For his entry into the running in what could be his last tournament at Porte d’Auteuil, the Frenchman set the Philippe-Chatrier court ablaze, offering himself the scalp of the Argentinian in five sets in a crazy final on Tuesday, ending crippled with cramps .
We may expect it, the unexpected is always possible with Gaël Monfils. The first great popular jubilation could not come from another player than him. It is a fight of earthlings in its most faithful tradition that the spectators of the “night session” of the Philippe-Chatrier court, Tuesday, May 30, were able to admire. At the end of the effort, dripping with sweat after more than 3h40 of play, it was the French veteran (36 years old, 394th in the world) who created the surprise against the Argentinian Sebastien Baez (22 years old, 42nd in the world). The Parisian, led 4-0 in the fifth set then 5-4 having lost his engagement, completely reversed the momentum to finally win (3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7- 5) in the first round, after 3:47 of a huge fight.
We do not yet know if this is the last Roland-Garros of the “Monf” on Parisian ocher, but if so, he has still been faithful to the athlete he is: a showman , with an infectious smile, feasting on clay – his favorite surface -, capable of blows that raise stadiums, and sometimes betrayed by his physique.
But this Tuesday evening, even the cramps that beset her at the end of the match, when it came time to conclude her formidable comeback (he was down 4-0 in the final set) did not stop her. The former world number 6, who had only played eight games in 2023, carried by a boiling public, chained races to sweep the baseline from one linesman to another. He held his own during strong exchanges punctuated by countless slips and sent passing shots from elsewhere.
Monfils, the sense of celebration
The one who confided at the end of the meeting to have “fed with the energy of the public”to pick up “his first victory since becoming a dad”, also showed impressive mental strength. There were in particular these two break points erased in the second set before offering the win or even this moment when, led 4-5 (0-40) in the third set, Gaël Monfils again reversed the course of the match.
The smile never left him. The French did the show, and the public, fully committed to his cause, gave it back to him: songs to the tune of “Freed from Desire”, olas, a “Marseillaise”, “who does not jump is not French” watered their champion. A few minutes after the match “thank you Gael” still resounded in the aisles of the stadium.
Thanks to this success, the Parisian, forfeited from Auteuil last season due to a right heel injury, joins one of the favorites in the final four, the Dane Holger Rune (6th in the world). The latter qualified by dominating the American Christopher Eubanks in four sets (6-4, 3-6, 7-6 [7-2], 6-2). Gaël Monfils, who begins to evoke “the end”, without specifying the deadline, thus extends the party a little further.