Unstoppable: three days after his 13th ATP title in Auckland (New Zealand), Gaël Monfils won the 100% French shock of the 1st round of the Australian Open against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on Tuesday in five sets.
On a packed N.3 court to watch a match that turned into a thriller, the 38-year-old Parisian, ranked 41st in the world, won 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 against one of the rising stars of French tennis, 30th in the world at 21 years old.
“It's never easy to play between French people, even more so when we like each other”, underlined Monfils at a press conference, nevertheless “happy” after this victory which satisfies his “competitive” temperament.
“There, I got through it (…) but I had to really work hard,” insisted the winner, who shared a particularly warm embrace at the end of the match with Mpetshi Perricard, occasional training partner.
Having become in Auckland the oldest tournament winner on the main circuit since 1977, “La Monf” will come up against the German Daniel Altmaier (101st) or the Argentinian Francisco Comesana (85th) in the second round.
On Tuesday, Monfils scored his sixth victory in a row, with only Serbian star Novak Djokovic having so far managed to beat him since the start of 2025, in the round of 16 of the ATP 250 in Brisbane.
Very balanced, the opening round logically ended in the deciding game, where Mpetshi Perricard obtained the first set point at 7-6, which he wasted by sending a seemingly easy smash far behind the baseline.
Two winning serves from Monfils and a return into the net then tilted the set in favor of the French veteran, winner 9/7 of the tie-break.
– “I will definitely improve” –
Stunned by the loss of the first round, Mpetshi Perricard was immediately caught in his throw in the second, won 6-3 by his elder.
Dressed all in yellow under the Melbourne sun, the winner of the ATP 500 in Basel in 2024 was not discouraged, snatching the next two sets in the deciding game despite two first match points for Monfils in the third.
“La Monf” however managed to immediately break Mpetshi Perricard in the deciding set, an advantage which he then retained without trembling to win after a battle of almost four hours.
“The match could have ended much earlier, I did everything to reverse its course,” said the loser.
“It hurts but, afterwards, we have to turn the page, I’m not going to go into depression because I lost against a good player,” added “Gio”.
“I'm 21 years old, I know that I'm bound to improve. You just have to be patient,” he added.
Still in the French camp, Adrian Mannarino (75th) lost Tuesday in three sets against the Russian Karen Khachanov (19th), winner 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3.
Corentin Moutet (69th) took the scalp of Australian Alexei Popyrin (28th) in front of his audience at the John Cain Arena in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
He is the 8th and last Frenchman qualified for the 2nd round, out of 13 entered in the men's draw.
– Derby Halys-Fils –
Six of them, with a 100% tricolor duel between Quentin Halys and Arthur Fils, will be on the courts on Wednesday to reach the third round. The highest ranked, Ugo Humbert (14th), will face the surprising Hady Habib, the first Lebanese to win a match in a Grand Slam tournament.
In the women's table, Varvara Gracheva (69th) qualified Tuesday in two sets for the 2nd round, where she will be the only French survivor.
The 24-year-old Frenchwoman won 6-3, 6-4 against the American Caty McNally (540th but ex-54th in the world), whom she faced for the first time.
“We were both stressed,” especially at the end of the second set, Gracheva said.
“Really happy to win”, the Frenchwoman felt that she had shown more “stability” than her opponent, the key quality according to her to win on Tuesday.
dga-alh/ig/gpi
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