Tennis – Australian Open: At 38, Gaël Monfils overthrows world number 4 Taylor Fritz

Gaël Monfils goes back in time: by surprising world No. 4 Taylor Fritz on Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open, the Frenchman (41st) beat a member of the top 5 in a Grand Slam for the first time since 2008, after Iga Swiatek (2nd) also reached the round of 16 thanks to a show of strength.

At the age of 38, Gaël Monfils is still green: the Frenchman dominated in four sets and more than three hours the finalist of the last US Open, Taylor Fritz, on Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open. Winner 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 against the 4th in the world, Monfils recorded his eighth success in a row.

The French Tennis veteran also ended a series of 12 consecutive Grand Slam defeats against top 5 players. His last success dates back to 2008 against the Spaniard David Ferrer in a quarter-final at Roland-Garros.

Since the 128-player draws were introduced in Melbourne in 1988, only Roger Federer had managed to reach the round of 16 at an older age than Monfils. The Frenchman will face the American Ben Shelton (20th) or the Italian Lorenzo Musetti (15th) in the next round.

At the start of the evening, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner will enter the Rod Laver Arena to face the American Marcos Giron (46th), who has never gone beyond the 3rd round in a Grand Slam. In the event of victory, the defending champion in Melbourne would achieve a 17th victory in a row. The double Grand Slam winner (Australian Open and US Open 2024) has not been defeated since his defeat in the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing against Carlos Alcaraz (3rd), at the start of the fall.

On the court of the Rod Laver Arena, the Polish Iga Swiatek (2nd) scored a fourth victory in as many duels on Saturday against the British Emma Raducanu (61st), winner of the US Open in 2021. The five-time Grand Slam winner won 6-1, 6-0 and thus joined in the round of 16 her rivals Aryna Sabalenka (1st), double title holder, and Coco Gauff (3rd). She will challenge for a place in the quarterfinals the German Eva Lys (128th), who defeated the Romanian Jacqueline Cristian (82nd) ​​in three sets on Saturday.

Asked how humiliating the harsh score was, Swiatek responded that she was “just trying to keep the same attitude regardless of the score. I apply my game and if it works, why should I stop?

Semi-finalist in Melbourne in 2022, Swiatek was eliminated in the 3rd round of the Australian Open in 2024. “Last year I was not spoiled by the draw, I was tired, I I wasn’t moving well…”, argued the Pole at a press conference. Since the start of the Australian fortnight, however, “I feel less stressed and that helps me,” she continued.

After two laborious first rounds, the American Emma Navarro (8th) won a third match in three sets in a row, against the triple Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur (39th): 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 . “I love tennis so much that I can’t help but go to three sets,” joked the semi-finalist of the last US Open. She will face the Russian Daria Kasatkina (10th) in the next round, who dismissed the Kazakh Yulia Putintseva (23rd) 7-5, 6-1 on Saturday.

World No. 7 Elena Rybakina, winner of Wimbledon in 2022 and finalist in Melbourne in 2023, is also in the round of 16 after her 6-3, 6-4 success against the Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (33rd).

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