Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 6 in men's singles by the
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to p ...
(ATP), achieved in November 2016. Monfils has won 13
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as ATP World Tour between January 2009 and December 2018) is the sole worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) founded in 1990 that replaced the earlier dual Grand Prix ...
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
. He reached at least one ATP Tour singles final every year for 19 consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2023, and is one of five players in the Open Era to do so for 19 or more seasons. He is also eighth among active players with over 550 career match wins. In
2025
So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...
, Monfils became the oldest ATP Tour champion since the Tour's establishment in 1990.
Early life
Gaël Sébastien Monfils was born on 1 September 1986 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he was raised. His father Rufin Monfils is from
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
and is a former pro football player and France Telecom employee. His mother, Sylvette Cartesse, is from
Martinique
Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
and worked as a nurse.
Career
2002–2004: Juniors
Monfils played his first junior match in January 2002 at the age of 15 at a grade 4 tournament in
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
. Through his 2002–2004 junior career, he compiled a singles win–loss record of 83–22, reaching the No. 1 junior combined world ranking in February 2004. Over the course of the same year, he won the boys' singles titles at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
and
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
. He was also crowned International Tennis Federation youth world champion. His win streak at junior grand slams ended at the US Open with a third round loss to Viktor Troicki.
Also in 2002, Monfils finished runner-up at the Dutch Junior Open and won the German Junior Open. He ended the year ranked as the No. 4 junior in the world and also represented France in the Junior Davis Cup.
In 2003, Monfils got off to a positive start and earned his first career ATP point at the France Futures No. 13 by reaching the second round. He also reached the second round at the France Futures No. 14, Egypt Futures No. 2 and the Spain Futures No. 28. In that year, he played a total of nine Futures events. This included a showing in the doubles final at the Spain Futures No. 27. In junior events, he was a finalist at
Orange Bowl
The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...
(losing to
Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis (Greek language, Greek: Μάρκος Παγδατής, Arabic language, Arabic: ماركوس بغداتيس); born 17 June 1985 is a Greek Cypriot former professional tennis player and coach. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Aus ...
) and USTA International4 Winter Championships (losing to Sebastian Rieschick). He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open juniors tournament (losing to Florin Mergea) and won the doubles title at the Victorian Junior Championships (with Josselin Ouanna). He was No. 21 in junior rankings at the end of the year.
In 2004, the French teenager finished as the world's No. 1 junior, winning the first three of four junior Grand Slam events (Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon). He improved his ATP Entry Ranking by over 700 positions. In October, he made his ATP debut as a wildcard entrant at the Moselle Open in
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
and, after winning his first ATP match against
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish Region, Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David G ...
, reached the quarterfinals in which he lost to countryman
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
. He qualified for the 2004 Paris Masters and reached the second round, beating former Top 10 player
Thomas Enqvist
Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist (born 13 March 1974) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached the final of the 1999 Australian Open and won a total of 19 singles titles, including three Masters titles. He has a career high ATP worl ...
before falling to world No. 3
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
. He won junior titles at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, French Open (defeating Alex Kuznetsov) and Wimbledon. He did not drop a set in Australia and lost one set each at the French Open and
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
. He reached the third round at the US Open (losing to Viktor Troicki). He also won the LTA International Junior Championship in Roehampton (defeating
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
). He was the runner-up at the Australian Hardcourt Junior Championships (losing to Mischa Zverev) and was 31–2 in junior events. In April, he reached his first career Futures final at the Italy Futures No. 4. A week later, he won his first Futures title at the Great Britain Futures No. 1 (defeating Alex Bogdanović). He reached the quarterfinals of the Grenoble Challenger. He went 14–6 in Futures and 3–5 in Challengers in 2004.
In doubles, Monfils reached the final the at France Futures No. 7 (with Ouanna). He reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at the French Open (with Ouanna).
Junior Grand Slam results – Singles:
Australian Open: W (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
French Open: W (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
Wimbledon: W (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
US Open: 3R (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
Junior Grand Slam results – Doubles:
Australian Open: SF (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
French Open: QF (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
)
Wimbledon: A (-)
US Open: A (-)
2004: Turned Pro, ATP debut and quarterfinal
Monfils officially turned pro in 2004 at the age of 17. He solely played ITF Futures events from early 2003 to mid 2004 winning two titles.
Monfils made his ATP debut at the 2004 Open de Moselle after receiving a wildcard into the main draw, where he defeated 2nd seed
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian tennis coach and a former professional player. Born in the north-western Flemish Region, Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David G ...
in the first round for his first ever ATP win. He followed this up with another victory over
Olivier Patience
Olivier Patience (; born 25 March 1980) is a former French professional tennis player. His career high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking was world no. 87, on 19 July 2004. During 2006, Patience won three ATP Challenger ...
in the second round to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to fellow wildcard and junior and eventual finalist
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in straight sets. Three weeks later, he qualified for the 2004 Paris Masters, his first Masters 1000 tournament. There, he defeated fellow qualifier and former world number 4
Thomas Enqvist
Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist (born 13 March 1974) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached the final of the 1999 Australian Open and won a total of 19 singles titles, including three Masters titles. He has a career high ATP worl ...
in the first round before losing in the second round to 2nd seed and world number 3
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
in straight sets.
Monfils ended 2004 with a year-end ranking of world No. 239, a remarkable jump from his ranking of No. 925 at the start of the year.
2005: First ATP title
After having turned pro the previous year, the young Frenchman then made one of the biggest moves into the top 50 from the previous season, climbing 200 ranking spots and capturing his first ATP title whilst also reaching two additional finals. In the first six months, he won Challenger titles in
Besançon
Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland.
Capi ...
and
Tunis
Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro (; born 9 December 1972) is a French former professional tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming towards the end of his ca ...
respectively. He would then reach the fourth round at the Miami Masters during this time (losing to Dominik Hrbatý), as well as the third round of Wimbledon, where he lost to
Mario Ančić
Mario Ančić (; born 30 March 1984) is a Croatian former professional tennis player who currently works as a private equity vice president in New York City. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles on the ATP Tour. Ančić's career- ...
. Monfils compiled a 10–14 record in ATP level play and 12–1 in Challengers through July.
In the last three months, he went 15–8, highlighted by his first ATP clay title at the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, defeating
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player.
Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP Tour title after four previous defeats in AT ...
in the final. Monfils then struggled with a 2–5 mark before reaching the final in two of the last three indoor tournaments of the season, both in his native country in Metz (losing to Ivan Ljubičić) and
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
(losing to
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen Roddick (born August 30, 1982) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 13 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in ...
). He went 11–4 in tie-breaks and 1–2 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating world No. 10
Gastón Gaudio
Gastón Norberto Gaudio (; born 9 December 1978) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won eight singles titles and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 5 in April 2005. Gaudio's most significant championship c ...
in his first match of the season in
Doha
Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...
. Monfils compiled records of 12–10 on hard courts, 6–7 on clay, 5–2 on carpet and 2–3 on grass. He finished the year as the No. 3 Frenchman, behind only world No. 16
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
and world No. 26
Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien René Grosjean (; born 29 May 1978) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. Grosjean reached the semifinals at the 2001 Australian and French Opens, and at Wimbledon in 2003 and 2004. He finished eight consecutive ...
.
2006: Breaking Top 25
In his first tournament of
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, Doha, he reached the final, but lost in two sets to world No. 1
Roger Federer
Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...
. In a surprising event in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
, there was a paddle tennis tournament held by the Tennis Channel. Monfils was given a wildcard into the doubles event, but became more interested and inquired about getting a singles wildcard into the main draw. However, he received an entry into the qualifying singles (which he won). Monfils competed in the main draw of this paddle tennis tournament and surprised everyone when he ousted world No. 1 paddle tennis player Scott Freedman and eventually went on to win the whole tournament.
In May, Monfils reached the semifinals of the
Rome Masters
The Italian Open () is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is played on clay courts at the Foro Italico, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the ATP 1000 events on the ATP Tour and ...
, before losing to eventual champion
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in straight sets. En route to the semifinals, Monfils defeated former world No. 1 Andy Roddick. He then entered the Hamburg Masters event, where he lost in straight sets to fellow teenager Andy Murray in the first round. After that, he faced Murray once more, this time in the first round of the French Open. After a tough five–set battle, Monfils emerged victorious. Monfils then proceeded to play Belgian Dick Norman in the second round. Once again, the match went to five sets, and Monfils got the better of his opponent. He then faced his toughest opponent yet, American James Blake. Blake was the favourite for the win, as the eighth seed, while Monfils was seeded 25th. However, Monfils defeated Blake in another five-set match. He described this run as a marathon. Blake said of Monfils that 'he was the fastest man on the tour'. The fourth round was Monfils' last, as he lost to
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in straight sets.
As a result of his progress at the French Open, Monfils moved up five positions to reach a then career high of No. 23. This also made him the No. 1 player in France, two positions ahead of Sébastien Grosjean. Monfils then entered the Stella Artois Championships, where he won his first-round match against
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a youn ...
. He then played the American Bobby Reynolds and won in straight sets. His third-round encounter with Ivan Ljubičić was the third time he faced the world No. 4. Monfils triumphed in straight sets. His quarterfinal draw was with James Blake, whom he had met earlier at the French Open. This time Blake succeeded. After having lost a set, Monfils retired as a result of a back injury. This injury effectively ruled him out of the Nottingham Open the following week.
At Wimbledon, Monfils suffered a surprising first-round exit when defeated by Igor Kunitsyn. Monfils won the first set, but ended up losing the next three.
2007: 50 career singles wins
At the 2007 Australian Open, Monfils lost to his compatriot Richard Gasquet in the third round in four sets. Monfils had a good run in Poertschach as a warm-up for the French Open, but lost in the final against
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco (; born 29 March 1984), nicknamed "Pico", is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won nine singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters – Singles, 2010 Shanghai Masters and the 2012 Sony ...
of Argentina in straight sets. He lost in the third round of the French Open to
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached his highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006, during a career that spanned from 2000 to 2013. Nalbandian was runner-up in ...
in a four-set match. At Wimbledon, Monfils reached the third round without dropping a set, where he lost to
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...
, the sixth seed, in straight sets. In July, Monfils made it to the semifinals of the 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, before losing to American
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
in three tiebreaks. Monfils withdrew from the 2007 US Open with a hamstring injury. He also was forced to withdraw from the 2008 Australian Open due to the same injury.
2008: French Open semifinals
At the 2008 French Open, Monfils reached a semifinals berth for the first time at any Grand Slam, becoming the first Frenchman to reach the semifinals since 2001. Monfils was defeated by top seed Roger Federer in four sets. A shoulder injury forced Monfils to withdraw from Wimbledon shortly before he was due to play his first-round match. Monfils was selected by France to play at the Olympics in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, where he lost to third seed
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Новак Ђоковић, Novak Đoković, separator=" / ", ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at N ...
in the quarterfinals. At the 2008 US Open, Monfils lost in the fourth round to Mardy Fish in straight sets, after having previously defeated former world No. 3 David Nalbandian, also in straight sets. At the Thailand Open, Monfils reached the semifinals, losing to
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in two sets. Monfils lost in the final of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in straight sets to
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner (born 24 March 1984) is a retired German professional tennis player. He was known for his hard-hitting forehand and backhand slices. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 9, which he achieved in April 2011.
Car ...
in the final.
2009: Top 10, second ATP title and first Masters final
Monfils played his first tournament at the Qatar Open and caused a two-set upset in the quarterfinals against
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
. Monfils lost to finalist Andy Roddick in three sets, after being up a break in the first set and losing it. At the 2009 Australian Open, Monfils lost to fellow Frenchman
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former tennis player. He turned professional in 2002 and won fourteen singles titles on the ATP Tour, and attained a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 6, on 5 January 2009.
Personal li ...
in the fourth round, retiring due to a wrist injury. At the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Monfils lost in the final to
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player of Latin American descent. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008 French Open – Men's singles, 2008, 201 ...
Rome Masters
The Italian Open () is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is played on clay courts at the Foro Italico, and is held during the second week of May. The tournament is part of the ATP 1000 events on the ATP Tour and ...
and the Madrid Masters. However, he competed at the French Open and easily won his first-round match against Bobby Reynolds. He then completed another straight-set victory in the second round by overcoming Victor Crivoi. In the third round, Monfils beat Jürgen Melzer in four sets. Against Melzer, Monfils made one of the most spectacular plays of the tournament, hitting a diving shot back to Melzer, sliding to save another point of Melzer and then putting the point away. He then played a much-anticipated fourth-round match against Andy Roddick, who made 28 unforced errors en route to losing to Monfils in straight sets. Monfils then lost, as in the previous year, to Roger Federer, this time in the quarterfinals.
Monfils withdrew from Wimbledon due to a wrist injury. Monfils returned to competition at the Canadian Masters. In his first-round match, he defeated
Marat Safin
Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; ; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian former professional tennis player and former politician. He was ranked as the List of ...
. He then lost to qualifier
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
in his second match, ending his Masters tournament campaign. At the 2009 US Open, he lost to world No. 3
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for ...
in the fourth round in four sets. However, Monfils would bounce back from that defeat by winning the Open de Moselle. As the No. 1 seed, he ended up facing
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
in the final and won in two sets. Despite suffering from jetlag, Monfils also made the quarterfinals at the Malaysian Open, held in
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
, where he was beaten in straight sets by
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( ; born 2 June 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 in November 2006. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournam ...
.
At the Japan Open, Monfils reached the semifinal stage, losing to eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. His next tournament was the Shanghai Masters, losing against Ivan Ljubičić in the third round. He lost the first set and then was forced to retire with a back injury. At the 2009 Paris Masters, Monfils made his first Masters final, where was defeated by Novak Djokovic.
2010: Third ATP title
Monfils began his season at the
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on Tennis court#Hard courts, outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA 500 tournaments, WTA 500 tournament and an ATP World T ...
, where he was seeded third. He lost to defending champion, Czech
Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, Australia, citing a shoulder injury. At the 2010 Australian Open, Monfils lost in the round of 32 to John Isner in four sets. Monfils was the first seed at the
SA Tennis Open
The SA Tennis Open was a professional men's tennis tournament in South Africa that ran for three years from 2009 to 2011. It marked the return of tennis at the ATP level to South Africa since the South African Open (tennis), South African Open ...
, where he lost in the semifinals to
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016. ...
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
, where he fell in the quarterfinals to the eventual runner-up, Russian
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Associ ...
in three sets. Monfils also fell in the quarterfinals at the 2010 Open 13 in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, France, as the third seed to
Julien Benneteau
Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 and doubles ranking of No. 5 in November 2014. Benneteau did not win a singles ti ...
in straight sets.
At the Indian Wells Masters, seeded twelfth, after receiving a bye in the first round, Monfils lost to Simon Greul in three sets. Monfils withdrew from three consecutive Masters 1000 events – the Sony Ericsson Open, the 2010 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2010 Rome Masters. He was set to return at the Estoril Open and receive a wildcard, but withdrew due to a stomach injury. He finally made his return at the 2010 Madrid Masters and reached the quarterfinals without losing a set, where he lost to third seed Rafael Nadal. He then played at the Open de Nice Côte d'Azur in
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionPotito Starace. His next tournament was the 2010 French Open, where he had reached the quarterfinals the year before. He was up two sets and a break, before being upset by
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is Clay court#Red clay, ...
in a match over two days.
Starting his grass-court season, Monfils lost in the second round at the Aegon Championships to Rainer Schüttler in three sets. Playing at Wimbledon for the first time since
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, he won his first match in straight sets against Leonardo Mayer, and his second round match in four sets against
Karol Beck
Karol Beck (born 3 April 1982) is a male former tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 36, achieved in August 2005. Beck reached the fourth round of the 2004 US Open and the qu ...
. He eventually lost to grass-court specialist and former Wimbledon champion
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
in straight sets. At the 2010 MercedesCup, he reached his first final of the year by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver in three sets. He was forced to retire in the final against
Albert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca (, ; born 26 November 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He first entered the top 100 in 2001, achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 22 in 2010, and has won six singles titles and two doubl ...
.
At the 2010 US Open, he lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets in windy conditions. It was his first quarterfinals at a major besides the French Open. He is also the first Frenchman to make the US Open quarterfinals since
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément (; born 17 December 1977) is a French former professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain. Clément reached the final of the 2001 Australian Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 10 in April 2001. He ...
in
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. Monfils was runner-up at the Rakuten Japan Open, losing to Rafael Nadal in two sets. At the Open Sud de France, Monfils won his third tournament, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in three sets. Monfils was seeded twelfth at the 2010 Paris Masters and successfully reached the final for the second consecutive year, this time also scoring three Top 10 wins (Fernando Verdasco in third round, Andy Murray in the quarterfinals and Roger Federer in the semifinals) en route to doing so. In the final, he was defeated by
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in November 2010. Söderling won ten singles titles on th ...
.
2011: 200 career singles wins
Monfils started
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
at the AAMI Kooyong Classic where, in the final, he lost to Australian and former world No. 1
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) fo ...
. Following the 2011 Australian Open, Monfils next played in San Jose. He was able to reach the semifinals, before he had to withdraw with a left wrist injury that had been affecting him since January.
At the 2011 French Open, Monfils defeated seventh seed
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in July 2013. Ferrer won 27 ATP Tour singles titles, including a ...
in five sets to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he lost to Roger Federer in straight sets. Monfils entered Wimbledon as the ninth seed. He defeated
Matthias Bachinger
Matthias Bachinger (born 2 April 1987) is a German former tennis player who played professionally from 2005 to 2023. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 85, achieved in August 2011.
Professional career
In 2007, Bachinger qualified for ...
and Grega Žemlja before falling in the third round to
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a former Polish professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the ...
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, he reached the finals with victories over Ryan Sweeting,
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a Russian tennis coach and former player. At age 12, he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singles ranking is w ...
, Janko Tipsarević and John Isner. In the final, he lost in straight sets to Radek Štěpánek. He reached the quarterfinals of both the 2011 Canadian Masters and the
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open (also known as the Cincinnati Masters) is an annual professional tennis event held in Cincinnati, United States. Due to previous sponsorship, it has also been known as: the Thriftway ATP Championships, the Great American I ...
, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. In July, he reached his career-high ranking of world No. 7. At the 2011 US Open, he lost in the second round to
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional tennis player and current coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Pro ...
after a hard-fought match five set match. Monfils then won his fourth ATP career title in October at the
Stockholm Open
Stockholm Open (SO) is an annual tennis tournament in Sweden that is part of the ATP Tour's 250 Series. The tournament features both men's singles and doubles events and is organized by the Royal Lawn Tennis Club (KLTK), Stockholms Allmä ...
by beating
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
in the final. It was Nieminen's 11th ATP-level career final and Monfils' 15th.
2012: Setbacks and injuries
Monfils began
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
reaching the final of the Qatar Open. On his way to the final, he beat Rui Machado, Benjamin Becker, Viktor Troicki and Rafael Nadal. In the final, Monfils faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had received a walkover after Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament due to a back problem. Monfils proceeded to lose the final in straight sets. At the 2012 Australian Open, Monfils progressed to the third round before bowing out to Mikhail Kukushkin in five sets. Monfils was suffering from a back injury he received in the previous round. In his next tournament,
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, Monfils reached the final, losing to
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 4 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved in May 2015. Berdych won 13 ATP Tour singles titles, i ...
in three sets. This brought his finals record to just 4 titles out of 17 finals.
He reached the third round of the 2012 Madrid Masters, again losing to Berdych. He did not play on tour after Nice from May to September due to a knee injury.
The comeback came in September in Metz, where he reached the quarterfinals, but lost to
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces.
Personal lif ...
in three sets. After 2 more tournaments, Monfils withdrew from the 2012 Japan Open in October, citing pain in his right knee and ended his season early.
2013: Return to Top 40
Monfils attempted another comeback with the beginning of the 2013 season in Doha, where he was able to reach the quarterfinals. He reached the semifinals in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, being eliminated by David Ferrer. He made it to the third round of the 2013 Australian Open, but was defeated there by compatriot Gilles Simon.
He then played in Montpellier, where he was defeated in the second round by
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
. He received a wildcard into Rotterdam, but was defeated in the first round by
Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro (; born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), in August 2018. Del Potro won 22 ATP Tour-level sing ...
. He received a wildcard for the 2013 French Open after a good clay season with a win at the Bordeaux Challenger and a final at the Nice ATP tournament, he upset Berdych in the first round of the French Open, who was seeded fifth. He continued his quest by defeating
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988) is a Latvian former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 10, making him the only male Latvian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top 10, a feat achieved in June 20 ...
in round two. In the third round he faced
Tommy Robredo
Tomás Robredo Garcés (, ; born 1 May 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the 2006 Hamburg Masters – Singles, Hamburg M ...
. Monfils won the first two sets, but lost the last three. During the match, Monfils had four match points, but could not win any of them. Monfils reached the final in Winston-Salem, but bowed out to Austria's Jürgen Melzer in the second set due to an unspecified injury, securing the championship for Melzer. Just three days later on 27 August, Monfils defeated 105th-ranked Adrian Ungur of Romania in the first round of the US Open but lost to John Isner in the second round.
At the 2013 Shanghai Masters in October, Monfils upset fifth seed Roger Federer in the third round before losing to world No. 2, defending and eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals.
2014: 300 career singles wins
Monfils reached his third final in Doha and lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets. He was once again beaten by Nadal in the third round of the 2014 Australian Open.
Monfils bounced back by winning Montpellier, defeating Richard Gasquet. He hurt his wrist in a match against
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov Dimitrov (, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Bulgari ...
and did not play again until the 2014 French Open, where he made it to the quarterfinals before losing to Andy Murray.
At the 2014 US Open, Monfils reached the quarterfinals for a second time and just narrowly missed reaching his second Grand Slam semifinal when he lost to Roger Federer in five sets, despite leading by two sets to love and holding two match points against his serve in the fourth set.
In the Davis Cup final held in
Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, Monfils won the second match against Roger Federer in straight sets. France however, went on to become the tournament runners-up, losing to Switzerland 3–1.
2015: Return to Top 15
Monfils played his first tournament at the 2015 Australian Open. He defeated Lucas Pouille in 5 sets in the first round before being ousted against
Jerzy Janowicz
Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish inactive professional tennis player and padel player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major semifinal, at the 2013 ...
in another five setter.
He reached the final of the Open 13 in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
Diego Schwartzman
Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist ...
in the second round in five sets but his best performance remains the third round match against
Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz (; born January 1, 1986) is a Uruguayan tennis coach and a former professional player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open – Men's doubles, 2008 French Open men's doubles title with Luis Horna, and was especially noted t ...
. As Cuevas led two sets to one and was serving up two breaks in the fourth set, he faced a different Monfils, galvanized by the crowd, who came back and won in five sets. Monfils then lost in the round of 16 to Roger Federer in four sets.
The grass season started well for Monfils as he reached the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, losing only to Rafael Nadal. Unfortunately, he injured himself in the quarterfinals of Halle and could not finish his match against Andreas Seppi. He was however, able to participate at Wimbledon, defeating Pablo Carreño Busta and Adrian Mannarino before again losing to Gilles Simon in the third round in five sets.
Due to injuries, his performance in America over the next few months was poor and ultimately saw him retire in the middle of his first-round match of the 2015 US Open against Illya Marchenko. He also announced the end of his collaboration with his coach Jan de Witt, who was later replaced by
Mikael Tillström
Mikael Tillström (born 5 March 1972) is a former tennis player and coach from Sweden.
Career
He represented his native country as at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he was defeated in the third round by Switzerland's Roger Federer. ...
.
His last tournament of the year was the Paris Masters. After leading by one set and 4–0 he was knocked out in the first round by compatriot
Benoît Paire
Benoît "Ben" Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player.
His best result in a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, ...
. He said after the match he got disturbed when the crowd started to whistle at his opponent. In his own words, Monfils defined
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
as a "year of regrets" where he "regressed, wasted a year because of certain choices".
2016 Australian Open
The 2016 Australian Open was a List of tennis tournaments, tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 18 and 31 January 2016. It was the 104th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tourname ...
where he was seeded twenty-third, Monfils took advantage of a draw which opened up in his section to reach the singles quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time. There, he lost to the thirteenth seed
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP ...
in four sets. His good form continued going into the Rotterdam Open, where he reached his first final of 2016, defeating Ernests Gulbis, Borna Ćorić,
Alexander Zverev
Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player and the current world No. 3. He has won 24 ATP Tour titles in singles and two in doubles, and has been runner-up at three Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, ma ...
and Philipp Kohlschreiber en route before losing to Martin Kližan in three sets.
In March, Monfils reached the quarterfinals of two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments – Indian Wells and
Miami
Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, losing to Raonic and Kei Nishikori respectively. Monfils then reached a third career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final and second final of 2016 in
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...
, that of which saw him defeat countryman and world No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals en route, before ultimately losing in the final to the eight-time Monte Carlo Masters champion Rafael Nadal in three sets. Monfils then looked to again replicate this form at the next two clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments – the 2016 Madrid Masters and the 2016 Rome Masters. He caught a viral infection during his stay in Madrid and, as a result, ended up losing in the second round to Pablo Cuevas. This viral infection ultimately saw Monfils withdraw from the 2016 French Open as well. Prior to that however, he lost in the first round of the 2016 Rome Masters to
Thomaz Bellucci
Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born 30 December 1987, in Tietê, São Paulo, Tietê) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 21 in July 2010.
Bellucci used a string of ATP Challeng ...
.
Still feeling sick, Monfils would not play again until Wimbledon. In an attempt to recover, he lost his first-round match with compatriot
Jérémy Chardy
Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French tennis coach and a former professional player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best major performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 ...
in five sets.
Monfils earned his first ever ATP World Tour 500 Series singles title in July, in the second week after Wimbledon, defeating Croatian Ivo Karlović in the final in three sets on the hard courts of the Citi Open in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, after fighting from a set and a break down with Karlović serving for the championship in the second set, and moments later, saving a championship point in the tiebreak. The win was Monfils' first ATP World Tour singles title in over two years, although he had previously reached at least one final every year since 2005. All of his previous ATP World Tour singles titles came under the ATP World Tour 250 Series category, despite the fact that he had already reached at least 3 finals each across all categories, except Grand Slams and Tour Finals.
The following week, Monfils reached the semifinals of the 2016 Canadian Masters after dispatching 2016 Wimbledon singles finalist Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals, to set up a match against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, to whom he lost in straight sets, ending his career-best win streak of 9 consecutive matches.
In the second week of August, since Richard Gasquet withdrew from the 2016 Olympics tennis tournament because of an injury to his back, Monfils would pair up with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the men's doubles draw. In the men's singles draw of the same tournament, Monfils reached the quarterfinals and lost to eventual bronze medalist Kei Nishikori, despite having 3 match point chances in the deciding set.
In late August, Monfils entered the 2016 US Open seeded tenth and reached the semifinals without dropping a set, defeating prominent past and present players on the tour
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller (; born 9 May 1983) is a Luxembourgish former professional tennis player. He is a two-time major singles quarterfinalist, making him by far the most successful male tennis player in Luxembourgish history. Müller won two titles on ...
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player of Latin American descent. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008 French Open – Men's singles, 2008, 201 ...
, Marcos Baghdatis and Lucas Pouille en route. He eventually lost a controversial match to Djokovic in four sets. The controversy came due to Monfils soft balling many shots and appearing that he was not giving the match his all. As a result, Monfils was jeered by the crowd and criticized by
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, who claimed that he was "unprofessional".
In the first week of October, Monfils entered and was seeded second at the 2016 Japan Open, another ATP World Tour 500 Series tournament, where he also reached the semifinals without dropping a set, after again beating Ivo Karlović in the quarterfinals to set up a tie against eventual champion
Nick Kyrgios
Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won se ...
, whom he lost to in two very competitive and entertaining sets. Monfils then entered the Shanghai Masters seeded sixth and received a bye into the second round, where he defeated Kevin Anderson in straight sets. In the third round, he then faced
David Goffin
David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ATP rankings, ranking of world No. 7, making him the highest ranked male player from Belgium in tennis history. He is also the first ...
. Despite winning the first set and leading by a double break in the second set, he lost the next 5 games and was forced to play a decider, where he lost 2–6. However, the run guaranteed him to match his career-high ranking of No. 7 once again.
The following week Monfils entered the 2016 Stockholm Open, where he was seeded first. After receiving a first-round bye, he was upset by
Gastão Elias
Gastão José Ministro Elias (; born 24 November 1990) is a Portuguese professional tennis player, who competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. In October 2016, he reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 57 to become the third highest-ran ...
in straight sets. The loss resulted in his ranking dropping down one spot, back to No. 8.
Despite missing the penultimate week of the 2016 season, Monfils became the sixth person to qualify for the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals. This year marked his debut at the season-ending event. After falling to Raonic and losing a 3-set match to
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
, Monfils withdrew from the tournament with an injury. Goffin was brought in to replace Monfils for one match.
2017: 400 career singles wins
For the whole of
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, Monfils only managed to progress beyond the round of 16 of the singles main draw in just three ATP World Tour tournaments – the 2017 Open 13 (losing in the quarterfinals to Richard Gasquet), the 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships (losing in the quarterfinals to Fernando Verdasco) and the 2017 Aegon International Eastbourne (losing in the final to Novak Djokovic). In his second round match against No. 5 seed Kei Nishikori at the 2017 Canadian Masters, Monfils saved four match points in the final set tie-break to advance to the third round; he lost his third round match against No. 12 seed
Roberto Bautista Agut
Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista Agut ...
in three tight sets, losing the last two on tie-breaks. His victory against Nishikori at the Canadian Masters marked the first time in seven years that Monfils had come from a set down to defeat a Top 10 opponent and it was just the third time in his career (3–62) that he had done so. Monfils saw his year-end position in the ATP singles rankings slip to world No. 46 as he struggled with his fitness in 2017. He was forced to withdraw from six tournaments because of various ailments and concluded his season after losing in the third round of the 2017 US Open, citing a right knee injury.
2018: Wimbledon fourth round
Monfils won his seventh ATP World Tour singles title at the 2018 Qatar Open. He had lost his previous three Qatar Open singles finals. Appearing in the 2018 edition of the tournament as an unseeded wildcard, he advanced to final via walkover after top seed Dominic Thiem had to withdraw from their match in the semifinals because of illness. In the final, he defeated Andrey Rublev in 61 minutes. In his next tournament, the 2018 Australian Open, Monfils lost to the No. 14 seed Novak Djokovic in four sets in the second round. Monfils then made the semifinals of the 2018 Argentina Open, upsetting seventh seed Pablo Cuevas in the first round before being handily defeated by Dominic Thiem in the semifinals. Continuing his South American swing, Monfils played two stunning matches during the 2018 Rio Open. In round one, Monfils completed a significant comeback to beat
Horacio Zeballos
Horacio Zeballos Jr. (, ; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He reached a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 6 May 2024, becoming the first Argentinian man to achieve the feat. He is a Grand Slam champion ...
, saving one match point in the process with a booming forehand. In round two, the Frenchman pulled off an even bigger stunner, defeating top seed and world No. 3
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
in a match that stretched over two days due to inclement weather. The match was halted at 6–3, 6–6(7–7) in Monfils' favor, a stoppage that surprised many. Monfils lost to Diego Schwartzman, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals. Later in the year, Monfils finally made the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time in his career, losing to Kevin Anderson.
2019: Eighth ATP title, top 10 return
At the 2019 Australian Open, Monfils fell in the second round to Taylor Fritz. Monfils won the eighth ATP Tour singles title of his career at the Rotterdam Open, defeating Stan Wawrinka in a three-set final.
At the Madrid Open, the fifteenth seeded Monfils failed to convert two match points when he was leading 6–5 in the third and final set of his third round match against the No. 4 seed Roger Federer; Monfils eventually lost the match.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Monfils lost in the fourth round to
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
. At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
he retired in the first round against countryman
Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert (; born 26 June 1998) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13, achieved on 15 April 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 348, achieved on 26 August 2024.
Humbert has won seven AT ...
.
One of the highlights of his year was when he reached the quarterfinals of the US Open as the 13th seed after battling past
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born ) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, which he first achieved on September 21, 2020. Sh ...
in the third round and dispatching Pablo Andújar only losing a maximum of 2 games in each set. He lost in a five set battle to the 24th seed
Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini (; born 12 April 1996) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in January 2022, and world N ...
. Monfils finished the year in the top 10 at World No. 10 since February 2017.
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in March 2020. Thiem won 17 ATP Tour-level s ...
. Monfils won the ninth ATP Tour singles title of his career at the Open Sud de France, defeating
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil ( ; , ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian former professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 Wimbledon Champi ...
in straight sets. Monfils won his second title of the year at the Rotterdam Open, successfully defending his title by defeating Félix Auger-Aliassime in the final. This marked the first time Monfils has won two ATP Tour titles in a season.
At the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
, Monfils defeated Albert Ramos-Viñolas in four sets, after saving a set point in the second set tie-break. In the second round he lost to
Mikael Ymer
Mikael Ymer (born 9 September 1998) is a Swedish professional tennis player. He had a career high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of world No. 50, achieved on 17 April 2023. In the ATP doubles ranking his career high is N ...
. Following the clay season, Monfils quickly turned to the grass. At the 2021 Halle Open, Monfils continued to struggle as he lost in the opening round to Lloyd Harris. Following this, Monfils quickly turned to the next event of the
2021 Eastbourne International
The 2021 Eastbourne International (also known as the Viking International Eastbourne for sponsorship reasons) was a combined men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 46th edition of the event for the women and ...
. He lost in the opening round again, this time to qualifier
Max Purcell
Max Purcell (born 3 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 40 on 16 October 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 8 on 9 September 2024.
In doubles, he won his first Gran ...
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
Alex De Minaur
Alex de Minaur Román (born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of No. 6 on 15 July 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October ...
to reach the last 16, and the 500th win in his career on the ATP tour marking an important milestone. Monfils became the 11th active player to reach 500 singles match wins.
Monfils made his first semifinal of the year at the 2021 Moselle Open. As the third seed, he defeated lucky loser
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
in the second round to reach his second tour-level quarterfinal of the season and 8th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili to make the semifinals. He lost in the semifinals to second seed Pablo Carreño Busta in straight sets. One week later at the 2021 Sofia Open, seeded second, he made his first ATP final in 18 months where he lost to top seed and defending champion
Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (born 16 August 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the ATP, the first Italian to reach the top ranking. Sinner has won 19 singles titles on the ATP Tour ...
in straight sets.
He continued his good form, reaching the round of 16 in Indian Wells,
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
and at home in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he registered the fastest forehand ever at 190 km/h.
lucky loser
A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw. This can occur when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness ...
Thiago Monteiro after being a break down in the third set.
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
Cristian Garín
Cristian Ignacio Garín Medone (; born 30 May 1996) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 17 by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP in singles, achieved on 13 September 2021. He ...
and Miomir Kecmanović (all in straight sets) to reach his first quarterfinal at the Australian Open since 2016, and first quarterfinal at any Major since the 2019 US Open. There, he lost to
Matteo Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini (; born 12 April 1996) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in January 2022, and world N ...
in five sets.
After skipping the start of the clay season, Monfils played his first clay tournament of the year at the 2022 Mutua Madrid Open. Following his Madrid Masters exit, Monfils underwent a heel surgery as he missed the
2022 French Open
The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. J ...
and the entire grass season. After being out for three months, Monfils returned to action at the Montreal Masters. In his first tournament back following a lengthy absence, Monfils sustained a foot injury in his match against Jack Draper. He ended his season on 31 October 2022.
2023: French record with 356 hardcourt wins
Monfils came back from a four months hiatus at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells using a protected ranking. He lost to Jordan Thompson in straight sets in the first round. In the next Masters 1000 2023 Miami Open also using a protected ranking, he retired in the first round against compatriot
Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert (; born 26 June 1998) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13, achieved on 15 April 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 348, achieved on 26 August 2024.
Humbert has won seven AT ...
. At the 2023 French Open he won his first round match coming from two breaks down in the fifth set over Sebastian Baez to win his first match since his return and at a Major since the Australian Open in January 2022.
He reached the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open defeating Christopher Eubanks, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and lucky loser Aleksandar Vukic. He lost to seventh seed and eventual champion
Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (born 16 August 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the ATP, the first Italian to reach the top ranking. Sinner has won 19 singles titles on the ATP Tour ...
.
He made his debut at the 2023 Laver Cup, participating in team Europe using protected ranking.
At the 2023 Stockholm Open he defeated Marton Fucsovics and recorded his 356th hardcourt win over qualifier Filip Misolic, the most of any French player, breaking the record set by
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
. In the quarterfinals he defeated compatriot and second seed Adrian Mannarino and in the semifinals Laslo Djere to reach a final for the 19th successive season. He won the title over qualifier and first time ATP finalist Pavel Kotov becoming the oldest champion in the history of the tournament and the 11th player to win the trophy twice, with a 12-year gap between titles being the biggest in history. As a result, he climbed 50 spots in the top 90. He was also the lowest ranked player to ever win this event, and just the fourth above the age of 37 to win an ATP title since 1990, joining Roger Federer, Ivo Karlovic and Feliciano Lopez.
Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert (; born 26 June 1998) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13, achieved on 15 April 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 348, achieved on 26 August 2024.
Humbert has won seven AT ...
becoming the oldest semifinalist at the tournament at 37 years old. As a result, he returned to the top 55 in the rankings. He lost to 18 year old Czech player Jakub Mensik.
At the Masters 1000 2024 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he defeated
Max Purcell
Max Purcell (born 3 April 1998) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 40 on 16 October 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 8 on 9 September 2024.
In doubles, he won his first Gran ...
, eight seed
Hubert Hurkacz
Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, making him the highest-ranked Polish man in singl ...
and 28th seed
Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie (; born 23 August 1995) is a British professional tennis player. He has reached career-high ATP Rankings, rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 12 September 2022) and No. 117 in doubles (on 13 June 2022). Norrie has won five ATP ...
to reach the fourth round. As a result, he moved back to the top 50 in the rankings. At the next Masters, the 2024 Miami Open he reached the third round again defeating 33rd seed Jordan Thompson. It was his 550th win of his career, becoming only the second Frenchman in the Open Era to reach that milestone behind
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
(with 600 wins) and the eighth active man (behind Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Gasquet, Cilic, Wawrinka and Verdasco). It was also his 20th Masters 1000 win after turning 35 years old joining Federer, Karlovic and Isner in sharing the feat (since 1990).
Following a round of 16 showing at the 2024 Estoril Open he returned to the top 40 in the rankings on 8 April 2024.
He recorded his 122nd Major win at the 2024 French Open, the most of any French player at the Grand Slam level, with a win over Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Following another round of 16 at the 2024 Cincinnati Open, where he defeated world No. 3
Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia (; born 5 May 2003) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), inc ...
, his first top 5 season win and ninth career top 3 victory, as well as his biggest in more than two years, he again returned to the top 45 in the rankings. At 37 years and 9 months old, he became the fourth oldest man to beat a top 3 player after Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer and second oldest this century, after Federer.
2025: Oldest champion on the ATP Tour
At 38-years-old, Monfils recorded a straight sets win over ninth seed Jan-Lennard Struff, becoming the oldest quarterfinalist at the 2025 ASB Classic in Auckland since Roger Taylor in 1970. Next he defeated lucky loser Facundo Diaz Acosta to reach the semifinals, dropping only five points behind his first serve, becoming the oldest semifinalist since 1970. With his 73rd ATP Tour semifinal (second after Novak Djokovic) win over qualifier Nishesh Basavareddy, Monfils became the second-oldest finalist (after Ivo Karlovic in Pune 2019) since the ATP Tour was established in 1990. Monfils defeated qualifier Zizou Bergs, becoming the oldest champion on the ATP Tour and also the oldest-ever men's singles title winner since 43-years-old
Ken Rosewall
Kenneth Robert Rosewall (born 2 November 1934) is an Australian former World number one male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 professional tennis player. Rosewall won 147 singles titles, including 23 majors: a record 15 Major professional te ...
in 1977 in Hong Kong.
Monfils became the only player ever not to face a break point in a five-set match at a Slam (since records started in 1991) when he won against compatriot and 30th seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round at the 2025 Australian Open. The match had three tiebreaks, lasted close to four hours and marked the 21st consecutive season Monfils has won at least one major match. Next he defeated
Daniel Altmaier
Daniel Altmaier (; born 12 September 1998) is a German professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 47, achieved on 2 October 2023. He is the current German No. 2.
Personal life
Altmaier's father Jurij is Ukr ...
in straight sets. He then went on to defeat fourth seed Taylor Fritz, for his first top 10 win at a major since 2014, to reach the fourth round. He became the third-oldest player (behind Rosewall twice) to defeat a top-five opponent at a major in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) and with Federer the only one to reach the fourth round at age 38 or older since the tournament field expanded to 128 players when it moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
At the 2025 Miami Open Monfils became the second oldest player to win a match at the tournament after
Jimmy Connors
James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 2 ...
, defeating Fabian Marozsan. He backed that up with a three-set win over 26th seed Jiri Lehecka, saving a match point and Jaume Munar to reach the fourth round becoming the second oldest player to win three matches at the 1000-level after Ivo Karlovic in Indian Wells in 2019.
Playing style
Monfils is usually described as a baseliner who uses placement and consistency to beat his opponents. He is well known for his athleticism and his court coverage, regularly using slides to retrieve balls, even on hard courts. His ability to go from defense to offense quickly can take his opponents by surprise. Monfils occasionally demonstrates that he is capable of generating tremendous pace on his groundstrokes off both wings, especially his forehand that can reach 199 km/h. He has garnered a reputation for showmanship and high-risk shotmaking throughout his career.
Monfils uses a semi-western grip forehand and a combination of continental/semi-western on his backhand. He possesses a strong, accurate serve capable of reaching 230 km/h, although his main focus is on consistency and placement, sometimes at the expense of power.
Monfils was coached by countryman and former ATP pro Thierry Champion (since September 2004) but they parted company in September 2006. Nevertheless, his fitness trainer is still Rémi Barbarin. He announced a partnership with a new coach, Tarik Benhabiles, in May 2007. However, for the 2008 season, Monfils hired Roger Rasheed as his coach. In 2011, Monfils parted ways with Rasheed and announced that his fitness coach, Patrick Chamagne would take the reins as his new full-time coach. That lasted until 2013. , Monfils shares coach Jan De Witt with fellow countryman Gilles Simon.
On 15 November 2012, Monfils split with his coach.
In February 2025, Monfils confirmed that he would quit tennis if he suffered an injury setback in the course of the 2025 season, just after he became the oldest player to win an ATP Tour title in Auckland at age 38 years and four months old.
Equipment and apparel
Monfils was sponsored by Nike for clothes and shoes but changed to K-Swiss in 2010. In 2013 he switched to ASICS for clothes and shoes. He was sponsored by
Head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple ani ...
for racquets but changed to
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
in 2009 and Wilson in 2012.
At the start of the 2022 season, Monfils switched his apparel and racquet sponsors to the French brand
Decathlon
The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...
's tennis line, Artengo. He is now using their TR960 Control Tour racquet.
Personal life
Monfils is nicknamed "''La Monf''", or occasionally "''Sliderman''" due to his unusual sliding technique, especially on clay surfaces. He has a younger brother, Daryl, who plays tennis. Gaël and Daryl played doubles together in the 2012 Open Sud de France, losing in the first round.
Monfils was considered an athletic prodigy at school and won the French under-13 and under-14 100m championships. It was only his love for tennis that stopped him from going on to compete at a higher level. His coach is on record as saying that Monfils could have made the Olympic 100m final, such was his talent.
Monfils appeared in the music video for "
Hello
Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826.
Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich Cou ...
" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette.
Monfils is married to WTA tennis player Elina Svitolina. They publicly announced their relationship in 2019, their engagement on 3 April 2021, and were married on 16 July. They have a daughter.
Career statistics
Grand Slam performance timeline
''Current after the 2025 French Open.''
ATP 1000 tournaments
Singles: 3 (3 runner-ups)
References
External links
*
*
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*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monfils, Gael
1986 births
Living people
French male tennis players
Olympic tennis players for France
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles
Australian Open (tennis) junior champions
French Open junior champions
Wimbledon junior champions
French expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
Tennis players from Paris
Black French sportspeople
French people of Guadeloupean descent
French people of Martiniquais descent
Tennis players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
21st-century French sportsmen