French veteran Gaël Monfils (218th in the world) lost on Monday in the first round of his 19th and last Roland-Garros, beaten in five sets by his compatriot Hugo Gaston (118th).
On a Central with well-stocked stands despite the late hour and the heat, the 39-year-old Parisian lost 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 after a final fight lasting more than three hours.
Semi-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2008 and former world No.6, the darling of the French public announced in the fall that the 2026 season would be his last on the ATP circuit.
“There is joy but I think there is much more sadness for Gaël, I am really sorry for you,” Gaston said to his victim of the day, saluting his “incredible” career.
“As soon as I turned on the TV, I wanted to see Gaël play,” he assured while Monfils was the last of the four “musketeers” of French tennis at the start of the 21st century to bow out at Porte d’Auteuil, after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet.
Less impactful than usual and author of a multitude of unforced errors, “La Monf” delivered a final messy copy at Roland-Garros, on clay that he likes less than hard courts.
Winner of 13 ATP titles, Gaël Monfils said goodbye to Roland-Garros a few hours after his Swiss contemporary Stan Wawrinka (41), who is also playing his last professional season and was beaten in four sets by the Dutchman Jesper de Jong (106th).
