Gaël Monfils retires in the round of 16 of the Australian Open

The legs ended up becoming heavy, but Gaël Monfils left Melbourne with honors. Monday January 20, in the round of 16 of the Australian Open, the 38-year-old Frenchman held out for three sets against Ben Shelton, before throwing in the towel (6-7 [3/7]7-6 [7/3]6-7 [2/7]0-1 ab.).

Gave a standing ovation by the Australian public as he left the Rod Laver Arena, the « French veteran »as he was nicknamed in the antipodes, held the American (22 years old) high for almost three hours. The two 1.93 m athletes had to decide in a tie-break in each of the three rounds.

On his first double fault of the match, Monfils let the first set slip away which could have gone either way – neither player conceded a break point. The 41^e Mondial reset the counters to zero in the second set, where he flew through the decisive game by winning on all the balls. Winner of an 18-shot rally, the Parisian delighted the stands with his fierce defense, one of his signatures.

The third set seemed to start on the same basis. Monfils managed to take his opponent's serve for the first time in the match at 2-1, in a game where he once again cracked Shelton on the forehand side after a 20-shot rally. But the American quickly caught up after a long standoff from the baseline. The 20th^e Mondial then had to save another break point in the next game, but this time, he was solid and took control of the third set.

Shelton will no longer be threatened by the Frenchman at the end of the set, perfectly controlled by the American, who concluded it in the tie-break with two winning forehands. THE “Come on Monfils, you still have juice” won't change anything. Despite the encouragement of the tricolor clan, the Parisian suffered the blow physically and struggled to move at the start of the fourth set, preferring to give up.

Provisional world number one

Until then, Monfils seemed in a state of grace at the antipodes, slayer of Taylor Fritz (n^o 4) during the 3^e round, Saturday, in four sets (3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4), his first Grand Slam victory against a member of the top 5 since 2008.

Since December 31, Monfils will have lined up eight victories in a row, he who became the oldest Tennis player to win a tournament on the main circuit (since 1990 and the creation of the ATP Tour), with his coronation in Auckland (New Zealand) in early January. This thunderous start to the season has installed him in first place in the world in the ATP Race rankings for the current season. In eleven matches played since the start of the year, he has conceded only one defeat – against Novak Djokovic on January 2 in Brisbane (Australia).

Asked about his chances of winning in Melbourne, the Frenchman clarified things at a press conference after his victory against Fritz: ” Earn ? No, I don't even dream of it. My dream is to grow old with many children and in good health. Tennis is cool, of course you have to have goals and dreams, but my dream is outside of it,” replied this father of a little girl, whose mother is Elina Svitolina (27^e). After a victory against the number four seed Jasmine Paolini in the third round and a success over the Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the round of 16, the Ukrainian qualified for the quarterfinals, where she will face the American on Tuesday Madison Keys.

Despite his defeat on Monday, don't talk to Gaël Monfils about retirement. In a FAQ at the beginning of December 2024 on his Youtube channel, the Parisian confided that he was approaching this new season with serenity. “I don’t have a specific goal. The goal is above all to give myself pleasure and to give it. Try to win as many matches as possible, catch the best ones,” he insisted. Just three weeks into the season, words have already been translated into action.