The 38-year-old veteran was delighted at a press conference after his success against his compatriot in the first round of the Grand Slam.
Unstoppable: three days after his 13th ATP title in Auckland (New Zealand), Gaël Monfils won the 100% French shock of the first 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, 6-3, 6-7, 6-7, 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 satisfied his temperament “competitor”.
“There, I got by (…) 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.
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Having become the oldest tournament winner on the main circuit in Auckland since 1977, “The Monf” will come up against the German Daniel Altmaier (101st) or the Argentinian Francisco Comesana (85th) in the 2nd 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.
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