Gaël Monfils, qualified for the final of the Auckland tournament, flirts with longevity records

He is old enough to call his opponents “kid”but still have enough resources to beat them. Gaël Monfils, 38, eliminated the American Nishesh Basavareddy, 19, in the semi-finals of the tournament in Auckland (New Zealand) on Friday January 10. The Frenchman, who has already won twelve titles on the ATP circuit since the start of his career, will compete in a 35^e final Saturday (at 2 a.m. Paris time).

“I am very happy, declared Monfils after his victory in two sets (7-6 [7/5]6-4). This kid has a bright future ahead of him, he pushed me to my limits. » The Parisian was better able to seize the opportunities to make a difference than his opponent, 133^e world, converting the only break point of the match at the end of the second set. The one nicknamed “La Monf” saved five break points.

Thanks to this success against an opponent half his age, the Frenchman, former world number 6 (in 2016) and now 52^e in the ATP rankings, will become the second oldest player to play a final on the circuit since the creation of the ATP Tour in 1990, behind the Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who reached the final of the Pune tournament at the age of 39 (India), in 2019.

He faces Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in Melbourne

During the final round of the Auckland tournament, Monfils will face the Belgian Zizou Bergs (66^e), who for his part is aiming for a first title at 25 after beating (6-2, 3-6,7-5) the Portuguese Nuno Borges (36^e) in the semi-finals.

Gaël Monfils’ good form on hard court bodes well before the start of the Australian Open on Sunday in Melbourne. The French “veteran” will find another in the first round “kid”his compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 21 years old and now 30^e world player, who reached the semi-finals of the Brisbane tournament at the start of the year, notably eliminating the Australian Nick Kyrgios and the American Frances Tiafoe.