How long will Novak Djokovic remain the only player to have beaten 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) this Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
“It's going to be very hard“to defeat the American,”in the thick of it“, admitted Thursday”The Monf“(41st) after his victory in the 2nd round against the German Daniel Altmaier (101e).
“He already beat me here too“, recalls the recent winner of the Auckland tournament, who even remembers the match point, “an incredible ace“.
The only confrontation between My son 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“, affirmed Fritz Tuesday after his express victory in the 1st 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.
Double semi-finalist in Grand Slam, My son 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 hit 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 Djokovicwho beat him in the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 in Brisbane for his first tournament of the 2025 season, the record is crueler, with twenty defeats in as many duels.
By winning his 13th title in Auckland, “The Monf” became the oldest player since 1977 to win a tournament on the main circuit.
Nothing to move the Parisian, for whom his age is only a “name“. Even if he has not won any titles or played in any finals in 2024, he believes he has “had a good season last year“.
“The level of play has always been there“, insists the one 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 car!“, illustrates My sonfather of a little girl whose birth prompted this “competitor” in the soul to review its priorities.
Married to the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (27th), also qualified for the 3rd round in Melbourne, the Frenchman confides that their “girl starts to express herself, to be tougher when you don't take her” about tournaments.
However, “I don't tell him yet how many sleeps I'm getting“. Taylor Fritz is warned.
