Tennis’ golden couple Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina are enjoying an incredible run at the Australian Open and, while for some the holy grail would be to go all the way, Monfils has another heartwarming dream.
The pair upset the fourth seeds in the third round with Monfils beating world No 4 Taylor Fritz and then he stayed around to watch as Svitolina got the better of two-time Grand Slam runner-up Jasmine Paolini, who sits at No 4 in the WTA Rankings, later in the day.
Svitolina has continued her run at Melbourne Park as she defeated Veronika Kudermetova to reach the quarter-finals of the season-opening Grand Slam for a third time in her career, but first since becoming a mother.
The former world No 3, who tied the knot with Monfils in July 2021, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter named Skai in October 2022.
She returned to the WTA Tour in 2023 and reached the quarter-final of the French Open and semi-final at Wimbledon that year.
Monfils is also having a renaissance since Skai was born as, after struggling with injury during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he won his first title as a father in October 2023 and has started the 2025 season with a bang as he lifted the Auckland Open trophy.
With his run at the Australian Open, he is just four matches away from winning a Grand Slam, which is a dream for many a tennis player.
When asked if he thinks he could win the tournament, the Frenchman replied: “Win? No! To be honest with you, it’s not even a dream to win the tournament. My dream is to be old with a lot of kids and to be healthy.”
He then told the journalist: “That is your dream I guess to win [a Grand] Slam, I guess
-“I tell you my dream is to have an unbelievable family. Tennis is cool. Of course, you want a gold dream, whatever. But my dream is out there.”
With his title run in Auckland, Monfils is the oldest player to a title since the ATP Tour was launched in 1990 as he was 38 years and four months when he lifted the trophy, surpassing Roger Federer as the Swiss was 38 years and two months when he won his last tournament.
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But he is clearly not ready to quit just yet.
Monfils reached a career-high of No 6 in the world, but slipped down the rankings in the past few years.
However, his recent performances has seen him rise again and who knows where he could be in a few months.
“I keep playing for those matches. Play a big player, big stadium, good crowd, good energy,” he said. “When you’re 38 years old, is what I want. I had it. I was very fortunate to win it.”
