“I was roasted…” Arriving with a smile in the press room at Melbourne Park, Gaël Monfils quickly summed up his abandonment against Ben Shelton (20th in the world) in the round of 16 of the Australian Open. Exhausted, the Parisian, 38, threw in the towel after being broken at the start of the 4th round while trailing two sets to one.
“From the start, I felt tired,” explains the French veteran, who remained on eight victories in a row with his title in Auckland, the last against Taylor Fritz, n°4 in the ATP. It was very heavy. I hoped that we would both serve well, without too much exchange. We served well, but there were still exchanges… The plan didn’t start well…”
The former world No. 6 quickly realized that his head and legs were no longer on the same wavelength and that the weight of his years was a little heavier after two weeks of matches. “There was a barrier, 100 m in front of me, where it says “prohibited,” he jokes. At first, I wonder if it’s not a cramp, I even wish it was one. I feel the stab in my leg. I just see that I’m dead. And I’m super happy because I was really afraid of making the wrong move trying to pull away to win a game or two. »
Before facing the American left-hander, sixteen years his junior, Monfils insisted on the notion of pleasure. His early end to the match did not take away his smile. “The public saw that it was a good match and that I had been at the end of my rope for a long time. They greeted me, I thank them. I gave everything, I can’t give more, I even gave too much, he continues. Well, he’s someone I really appreciate. He won well, he managed to wear me out, big congratulations to him. Well, he’s my friend. We train together quite often, I love his father. »
-Leaving the court to the applause of the Margaret Court Arena, the former world No. 1 in Race (in fact until yesterday he was the best player at the start of the season) went to give a nice hug to Bryan Shelton, himself a former player on the circuit.
After a largely successful tour of the Antipodes, Monfils’ next tournament is scheduled for January 27 at the Open Occitanie, in Montpellier, where he has already won three times (2010, 2014, 2020). In the meantime, the family remains racing in Melbourne. His wife Elina Svitolina qualified for the quarter-finals where she will meet American Madison Keys.
