Mumbai: On a green-tinged US Open court, like they were a couple of decades ago, a youngster sporting red shorts and sneakers leaps over the service line – both feet close to each other, the right arm and racquet cocked behind the head while the left arm flows loose – and smashes a high ball across the net. Like a slam dunk in basketball.
“I’m just me. “I think I’ve been the same since I came on tour. With a lot of joy. I feel like you don’t have to tell anyone how you want them to remember you. I think some people might like me. Some not. Some people think I’m fun. Some people think I entertain them. Some maybe not. I’m alright with everything. Monfils’s Grand Slam record is alright too, even if not extraordinary. It would take him another eight years to reach another semi-final, this time at the US Open, where he ran into top seed Novak Djokovic. That was also his 34th career victory at the US Open, the most ever by a Frenchman in New York. “So it’s a helluva long ride. His wife wishes he could be more like the entertainer he is while playing tennis even at home.
Making his main draw debut at the 2005 Australian Open, the Frenchman made the semi-finals of his home Slam in Paris in 2008 as an unseeded player halted only by Roger Federer, the then world No.1. When Monfils beat Vallejo, he became only the third man aged 40 or above to win a US Open singles match in the last 50 years (after Ken Rosewall, 42, in 1977 and Jimmy Connors, 40, in 1992). Last year, he matched Yannick Noah for the most wins at the French Open (40) among Frenchmen in the Open Era.
Gael Monfils,” he said. “I came here in 2003 for the juniors for the first time and here I am in 2026,” Monfils told the New York crowd in a send-off ceremony that comprised a video montage. Monfils on court and Monfils off court are different people, though, he said. The latter is “more strict, more serious” and well organised. “In tennis, I am the way I am,” said Monfils. “This is my joy place, where I can let my emotions go.”
