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MELBOURNE, Australia – Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.

But when the tennis was shut down for hours on Saturday at Melbourne Park because of the extreme heat, when no one is supposed to be practicing or playing, tennis’s favorite couple snuck out.

As quiet as the entire place was, there was a crew of people gathered around Court 10 as Elina Svitolina practiced with husband Gaël Monfils, ahead of her fourth-round match against Mirra Andreeva on Sunday.

The athletes from northern climes – France and Ukraine – didn’t seem to be feeling it too much.

Here’s what it looked like.

On Sunday, Svitolina upset the 18-year-old Andreeva 6-2, 6-4 to move on to a quarterfinal clash with No. 3 seed Coco Gauff.

Monfils, who is playing his final season and went out in four sets to Aussie qualifier Dane Sweeny in the first round, is sticking around to be his wife’s practice partner and biggest supporter.

Here they were before the tournament started, having a laugh.

And here they were in the middle of the week.

A long, long way from 2021

Five years ago, things were looking SO much more dire from this couple.

Monfils played Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland, just 21 at the time, in the first round of the “quarantine” edition of the event, both wearing the same Asics kit. He lost a five-set marathon.

Monfils looked … miserable. Svitolina, watching courtside, looked even more miserable.