The Frenchman Gaël Monfils, 41st in the world at 38, gave up at the very start of the fourth set of his round of 16 at the Australian Open against the American Ben Shelton (20th) who led 7-6 (7/3) , 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/2), 1-0, this Monday in Melbourne.
While the first three sets ended in a tie-break in heat above 30 degrees, the veteran tricolor headed towards the net smiling at 1-0 for Shelton, telling him that he was stopping the fight at after almost three hours of battle and eight victories in a row. Winner of the Auckland tournament in early January, a title which made him the oldest tournament winner on the main circuit since 1977, Monfils hoped to reach the quarter-finals for the third time in his career at the Australian Open. , after 2016 and 2022.
As he left the court, the Frenchman stopped for a moment to give a thumbs-up and greet the public, who cheered him with cries of “Thank you Gaël! Thank you Gaël!” Thanks to his victory, Shelton qualified for the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the second time, two years after having already achieved this performance for his first participation. He will face the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (55th), who put an end to another epic on Monday, that of the young American talent Learner Tien (121st), who fell to world number 5 Daniil Medvedev at 19 in the 2nd round.
