It is 00:18 in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday and Gaël Monfils collapses on the Central, both drunk with fatigue and happiness. With his back on the ground, his arms crossed and his gaze towards the sky, the Parisian cries hot tears after a winning backhand pass that caresses the strip of the net. Then he rubs his eyes as if to really believe it. At the end of a baroque, breathless, improbable match, basically in his image, he has just beaten the solid Argentine Baez at the end of the 5th set and a fight of 3h47 (3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5).
"I experienced something crazy, he says in the press room while the clock already displays 1:30. I managed to find unexpected solutions. The atmosphere was amazing. In terms of emotions, I put him in the top 2 with a match against Cuevas on Lenglen (won in five sets in 2015). But now I'm getting older and I had less chance of winning... It's one of the best sports moments I've ever had. »
"I haven't won a game since I became a dad"
For almost two decades that he has been on the courts of Roland-Garros, the former world No. 6, who fell to 394th place, had accustomed the public to incredible scenarios. But in front of incandescent stands at a time when he burns the last fires at almost 37 years old, the confusing Tricolore has set the bar even higher.
After twists and turns of all kinds, Monfils found himself leading 4-0, ball 5-0 in the final set. On the edge of the precipice. Almost six feet underground before a hallucinating resurrection despite a body pierced by cramps and barely able to walk...
ONE. DINGUERIE. 🤯🔥🇫🇷 @Gael_Monfils #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/KYO6iMZFBl
— FFT (@FFTennis) May 30, 2023
"The truth is that at 3-0, I said to myself: I haven't won a match since I became a father (his daughter Skaï was born at the beginning of last fall) and my daughter is in Paris," he smiles. I'm still going to win one! I started to play more relaxed, to mess around in my head, to be a little less in the game by taking the energy of the public, by continuing to believe in myself. Frankly, I have no words... »
Monfils made Monfils. Like totally letting slip the fourth set to try to regain a semblance of health. "I give up, I can't take it anymore and I do it very consciously," he laughs. It sounds like stupidity but it's crazy, I'm just like: I'm going to recover and I'm going to n... in the 5th! »
"I want to love the end"
Back on the circuit in March after seven and a half months of absence due to a recurring arch injury in his right foot, the former French No. 1 had lost seven games out of eight and won the eighth... by abandonment. He hadn't won in five sets in two years. Suffice to say that this return to full light is as much a miracle as this impalpable but implacable magic that is born every time he puts his rackets in the West of Paris.
"I don't have a specific date but the end is soon," he said before the game. I want to enjoy the end. I am happy and happy. I said it well, there are no more expectations to have on me. Let the people who liked what I was able to do come and share a good time. »
"At 3-0, before it was 4-0, I said to myself: I've never won a game since I became a dad. My daughter is in Paris, I said to myself: I still have to win one!"
King Gaël Monfils. pic.twitter.com/Mn8OtOtQ2C
— We Are Tennis France (@WeAreTennisFR) May 30, 2023
And what a moment! It is still quite rare to see a referee let a Marseillaise end in its entirety during a game before asking for the resumption of play... "All this is still really exceptional," says the Monf.
On Thursday, in the next round, the march will be much higher with the Danish scarecrow Holger Rune (No. 6) and a reservoir already well underway. Monfils has not won two games in a row in Paris for four years. But it doesn't matter what the result is. These last outings have reassured him and removed any apprehension related to his injury "This first round was a great party, he says. Let us try to make the second one too. Don't worry, I'll be ready... »
