How long will Novak Djokovic remain the only player to beat Gaël Monfils in 2025? At the age of 38 and after seven victories in a row, the Parisian takes on the mountain Taylor Fritz (4th in the world) on Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
“It's going to be very hard” to defeat the American, “in full swing”, admitted Thursday “La Monf” (41st) after his victory in the 2nd round against the German Daniel Altmaier (101st).
“He already beat me here,” recalls the recent winner of the Auckland tournament, who even remembers the match point, “an incredible ace.”
The only confrontation between Monfils and the finalist of the last US Open was actually played on the blue hard courts of the first Grand Slam of the season.
In 2019, the Californian won 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) in the 2nd round in Melbourne.
With six victories in a row, “I've been playing really well since the start of the year (…) I don't see any reason not to be confident,” Fritz said on Tuesday after his express victory in the first round against his compatriot Jenson Brooksby.
Merciless since the start of the Australian Open, where he left only eight games to his first two opponents, the 27-year-old American must nevertheless be wary of his elder, on a series of seven victories in a row. Auckland and Melbourne.
A double semi-finalist in a Grand Slam, Monfils still knows how to surprise the best, like the four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz (3rd), beaten by the Frenchman at the Masters-1000 in Cincinnati in the summer of 2024.
“I don't necessarily manage to beat the best all the time, but if I manage to hang on to them, to win a set, it's a real pleasure,” the latter explained to AFP in December.
– “Good car” rather than “Formula 1” –
-Against Djokovic, who beat him in the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 in Brisbane for his first tournament of the 2025 season, the results are crueler, with twenty defeats in as many duels.
By winning his 13th title in Auckland, “La Monf” became the oldest player since 1977 to win a tournament on the main circuit.
Not enough to move the Parisian, for whom his age is just a “number”. Even if he has not won any titles or played in any finals in 2024, he believes he “had a good season last year”.
“The level of play has always been there,” insists the man who refuses to be compared with the “legends” of his sport.
“I'm not going to compare a very good car to a Formula 1!”, illustrates Monfils, father of a little girl whose birth pushed this “competitor” at heart to review his priorities.
Married to the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (27th), also qualified for the 3rd round in Melbourne, the Frenchman confides that their “daughter is starting to express herself, to be tougher when we don't take her” at tournaments.
However, “I’m not yet telling him how many sleeps I’m getting”. Taylor Fritz has been warned.
dga/alh
