Monfils bows out in emotional five-set farewell at French Open
Monfils’ 19th and final Roland Garros ended in a five-set loss, then a tribute kept Court Philippe-Chatrier packed past midnight.
Gael Monfils’ final French Open ended the way his career in Paris always seemed to feel: dramatic, defiant and impossible to ignore. The 39-year-old fought back from two sets down before Hugo Gaston closed out a 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 first-round win in 3 hours and 22 minutes, sealing Monfils’ 19th and last appearance at Roland Garros.
A near-capacity crowd of about 15,000 stayed inside Court Philippe-Chatrier long after the match ended on Monday night and kept cheering until the final point. Monfils, who said this would be his final French Open before retiring at the end of the 2026 season, had briefly turned the night into a throwback to the kind of electric, crowd-bending tennis that made him one of the sport’s great entertainers. He won the third and fourth sets, only to fade in the fifth as Gaston raced through the decider.
What followed mattered as much as the score. The post-match ceremony kept the stadium full for an on-court tribute to one of French tennis’s most recognizable figures. Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga joined Monfils on court, while video messages came from Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Monfils thanked Elina Svitolina, his parents, coaches and the French Tennis Federation, calling Roland Garros “magical” and saying, “I owe you everything.”
The numbers frame the size of the career, but not its appeal. Monfils leaves Paris with 13 ATP Tour titles, one Roland Garros semifinal and three quarter-finals, yet his reputation was built as much on flair as on results. For 21 years on tour, he sold a style that tennis sees less and less: explosive defense, improvisation, and a willingness to turn a match into theater. Gaston, 25, called the moment joyful but mostly sad and thanked Monfils for inspiring younger players, a reminder that Monfils’ influence reached beyond the scoreboard.
His exit also marked the end of a French generation. Monfils is the last of the so-called Four Musketeers to retire, following Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga into the sport’s next chapter. Stan Wawrinka also fell in the first round the same day, adding to the sense that a familiar era was slipping away at Roland Garros, where Monfils had long been both a contender and a crowd favorite.
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