at the age of 38, Gaël Monfils wins his 13th ATP title in Auckland and becomes the oldest tournament winner since 1977

The 52nd player in the world beat 6-3, 6-4 the Belgian Zizou Bergs (66th), who was playing his first ATP final at the age of 25.

Ready for the Australian Open. French veteran Gaël Monfils won the 13th title of his career at the ATP 250 in Auckland (New Zealand) on Saturday January 11, becoming at 38 years and four months the oldest winner on the main circuit since 1977. . “Age is just a number”commented Gaël Monfils on the court. “I continue to believe that I can produce quality tennis, I showed it this week so I’m really happy”he continued.

The 52nd player in the world beat 6-3, 6-4 the Belgian Zizou Bergs (66th), who was playing his first ATP final at the age of 25, to win his first trophy since the ATP 250 in Stockholm, in October 2023.

Thanks to his victory in Auckland, the Parisian on Saturday became the oldest player to win a tournament on the main circuit since the Australian Ken Rosewall, winner in 1977 in Hong Kong at over 43 years old. The record for the oldest winner on the ATP circuit, created in 1990, was until now held by Swiss star Roger Federer, who won at home in Basel in 2019, at 38 years and 2 months.

While his contemporaries Gilles Simon (40 years old) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (39) have put away their rackets, and Richard Gasquet (38) will do the same in the spring, Gaël Monfils has “zero date” in mind to end his own career, he confided to AFP in December. “I don’t have a specific goal other than having fun, trying to win as many matches as I can,” he said.