Gaël Monfils, 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 West Indian became on Saturday (January 11, 2025) 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.
“Legend“, congratulated his compatriot Corentin Moutet (69th) on X. For Lucas Pouille (104th), “keeping this physical shape and his movement skills at his age proves that he is made differently“. “He just has magical powers!” he exclaimed in Melbourne.
“Age is just a number“, Monfils commented 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.
“It’s been a great week for so many reasons. Of course the victory is magnificent“, but the Frenchman also demonstrated “resilience in the face of adversity“, he congratulated himself after almost being eliminated as soon as he entered the fray by the Spaniard Pedro Martinez (43rd).
While his contemporaries Gilles Simon (40) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (39) have put away their rackets, and Richard Gasquet (38) will do the same in the spring, 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.
A week after the surprise triumph of Alexandre Müller (56th) in Hong Kong, the victory of “La Monf” in Auckland confirms the good start to the season for French players and represents ideal preparation before the Australian Open.
In Melbourne, where he reached the quarter-finals twice (2016 and 2022), Monfils will challenge his compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30th) in the first round. By coincidence, the two players were seated side by side on the plane to Australia, the cadet said.
“What was funny was that he told me ‘I’ve had a 21-year career, you’re 21’. That’s when we quickly understood the gap between the two of us.“, sourit Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
