Victorious over Taylor Fritz (No. 4 in the ATP) this Saturday during the 3rd round of the Australian Open, Gaël Monfils also took the opportunity to move into first place in the world in the Race, over the season in course. A symbolic statistic for the moment but which testifies to the excellent start to the season for the 38-year-old veteran.
In nine matches played since the start of the year, Gaël Monfils has only lost once, against Novak Djokovic on January 2 in Brisbane. Since then, the Frenchman has won the title at the Auckland tournament before dismissing three players at the Australian Open including world number four Taylor Fritz this Saturday. Qualified for the round of 16, the 38-year-old temporarily dominates the ATP Race rankings.
If the ATP world ranking is established over the last 365 days, the hierarchy with the Race is linked to the current season. On January 18, 2025, Gaël Monfils took the temporary lead thanks to his success against the American Taylor Fritz, ahead of the Czech Jiří Lehečka and his opponent of the day. Of course, the hierarchy is not yet established but this statistic underlines the excellent start to the year for “La Monf”.
“My dream is to grow old with many children and in good health”
Thanks to his success, Gaël Monfils also became the second player, after Roger Federer, to reach the round of 16 in Melbourne after turning 38, since the appearance of the 128-player table in 1988. In Auckland, Monfils had Elsewhere, he swept aside a Swiss record, becoming the oldest winner of an ATP tournament in the Open era (38 years and 147 days).
-Asked at a press conference about his chances of winning the tournament, the Frenchman was clear: “Winning? No, I don’t even dream of it. My dream is to grow old with many children and in good health.” , replied Monfils, father of a little girl whose mother is the player Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian also qualified for the round of 16 after a victory against number four seed Jasmine Paolini, under the eyes of her husband, following her match against Fritz.
Opposed to Ben Shelton (21st) in the next round, Gaël Monfils does not consider himself “not a favorite”, an opinion he expressed even before knowing the result between the American and the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. “Whether you play the 4th, the 10th or the 100th, it’s a battle on the court anyway,” concluded the Frenchman. The round of 16 will take place on Monday, at a time yet to be defined.
