
Gael Monfils continued his blazing start to his 22nd season on Tour with a stunning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-4 upset of fourth seed Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open Saturday.
The 38-year-old Frenchman, who became the oldest man in almost 50 years to win an ATP Tour title in Auckland one week ago today, dropped 24 aces on the American to notch his eighth consecutive match win.
“As I always say, I keep playing for these matches,” Monfils said. “A big player, big stadium, good crowd, good energy. When you're 38 years old, [that’s] what I want. I had it. I was very fortunate to win it. It's exactly why I'm playing.”
IN-CRED-I-BLE! 🕺@Gael_Monfils stuns the No. 4 seed in Melbourne with a spectacular upset! 👊@AustralianOpen | #AusOpen
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 18, 2025
pic.twitter.com/2gdDqXzFiV
Beguiling Fritz with a mix of off-pace groundstrokes and sudden injections of pace, Monfils produced a near-perfect third-set tie-break to gain the advantage and secured the crucial break at 4-all in the fourth after again luring Fritz to net and winning the point with a dipping backhand.
“The game plan was to hold the baseline and change the tempo, hit some big shots down the line and also use some shape. I did the job,” Monfils said. "We work hard and I try to be very disciplined with the recovery. I’m a strong believer that I can still do some damage and I have big trust in my team.”
Monfils was commanding on serve, winning 82 per cent of first-serve points and 68 per cent of second-serve points. He hit 58 winners to 34 unforced errors according to Infosys Stats as he leveled his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the World No. 4 at 1-1.
Monfils, who survived a five-set battle in the opening round with fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, has moved nine places during the Open to No. 32 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Monfils next faces a generational clash against the winner of 22-year-olds Ben Shelton and Lorenzo Musetti.
A winner of 13 tour-level titles, Monfils is the second-oldest man (behind Roger Federer) to reach the Australian Open fourth round since the tournament moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
With his 37th Australian Open win, Monfils tied former finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for most wins by a Frenchman at the year’s first major.
Despite the loss, Fritz will remain at his career high mark of No. 4 unless Alex de Minaur wins the Australian Open. He slips to 6-2 on the season, with his other loss coming to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the United Cup in Perth.
Did You Know?
Monfils is the third-oldest player (behind Ken Rosewall twice) to defeat a top-five opponent at a Grand Slam tournament in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings (since 1973). Rosewall did it aged 39 at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1974. Monfils' only other top-five win at a major was over World No. 5 David Ferrer in the 2008 Roland Garros quarter-finals.