Gael Monfils abruptly confirmed his retirement from tennis with the sport having 'lost all meaning' after Elina Svitolina's decision to end their marriage.

Svitolina, 32, had confirmed her separation from her fellow tennis star on Monday, where she cited the devastating toll Russia's war in Ukraine has taken on her mental health.

Monfils, 40, and Svitolina had been a couple since 2018 and married three years later. They shared a four-year-old daughter, who Svitolina stressed that their child will remain their top priority as they navigate their separation.

According to L'Equipe, the divorce led to Monfils bringing forward his retirement from the sport.

The French newspaper stated that the news had 'hit him like a ton of bricks' and that tennis 'lost all meaning as a result', with Monfils deciding he was 'no longer able to play'.

Tennis fans had been surprised last week when Monfils was listed as being inactive on a retired players list overseen by the International Tennis Integrity Agency.

His place on the list meant that Monfils is no longer able to play in professional events.

Monfils announced in October last year that he planned to retire at the end of the 2026 season, with the Paris Masters event at the start of November expected to be his swansong in front of a home crowd.

He had also been granted a wildcard entry to appear at the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, an ATP 250 event in Lyon, this week.

Monfils was due to take part in an exhibition at the event with retired French tennis stars Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet. The quartet had been dubbed as the 'New Musketeers' by French media during their careers. 

Organisers had confirmed earlier this month that Monfils had withdrawn for 'personal reasons', with Lucas Pouille stepping in as his replacement.

Monfils' career officially ended at the US Open in September, when he was beaten in the second round by Learner Tien.

'I'm just me, Gael Monfils,' he said following the match. 'I think I have been the same since I came on tour, with a lot of joy. 

'The most important for me is how my family lived all these years and how they will remember this ride was unbelievable.'

Monfils, who is viewed as one of the best players never to win a major, had competed in the mixed doubles competition at the US Open with Svitolina.

The star was previously treated to a lengthy send-off at his home major Roland-Garros in May.

Monfils, who was ranked as high as world No6 at his very peak and reached two Grand Slam semi-finals in 2008 and 2016, confirmed at the US Open that he will embark on a career in finance after joining a Swiss management firm.

Svitolina had confirmed their separation in a social media post, which featured a black and white picture of her and Monfils embracing.

The Ukrainian opened up about sleepless nights and self-doubt amid the ongoing conflict in her homeland, admitting on Instagram that she needs to rediscover her identity after 'slowly losing myself'.

Svitolina has since shared another update explaining her decisions for their separation and revealed their public post had followed speculation over Monfils' withdrawal from the final events of his career.

'I just want to clarify my previous post a little, because I realized that not everyone, especially my international audience, fully understood what I was trying to say. In that post, I shared only one of the reasons that influenced my decision and made me reflect on my life and my future,' Svitolina wrote.

'But the truth is, there’s so much more to it, and it was never just about one thing. When you’ve been living through the reality of war for more than 4.5 years, experiencing so many different situations, emotions, and difficult moments, you naturally start seeing life differently. Your perspective changes, your values and priorities shift, and you begin to understand what you truly want out of life. 

'At some point, I simply realized that I didn’t want to keep living a life where I wasn’t truly happy. And believe me, coming to this decision was anything but easy. I love and respect my husband very much. And I will always love and appreciate him for the person he is. 

'That’s exactly why it was so important for me to be honest, both with him and with myself. It’s not always possible to explain everything behind such personal and difficult decisions in a single post. And honestly, some things are simply too personal to share publicly. 

'That was and is my view on announcing the end of our marriage but as some of you saw, Gael’s career ended abruptly after he made the decision to stop based on our situation. Unfortunately he had many accusations thrown at him and he didn’t deserve that, so we jointly released a statement. 

'I just hope this helps you understand a little better what I was trying to say but please be kind and understanding, this is incredibly tough for us both right now.'

Svitolina, the world number six, this week was confirmed to have qualified for the season-ending Women's Tennis Association Finals.