Gael Monfils: “Everyone tells me I’m still young”

On Saturday, before a life-size storm drenched Miami for 36 hours, the Stadium Court at the Miami Open was lent to former Brazilian footballer Ronaldo, who exchanged a few shots with Patrick Mouratoglou. After an epic doubles match, the two men discussed the previous day’s matches. “Monfils was great yesterday, he’s so fast,” enthused Ronaldo, who knew a thing or two about speed from his days as one of the world’s best strikers in the 1990s and 2000s.

On Monday evening against Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 32 in Miami, Gaël Monfils should have someone to compare himself with when it comes to speed. But before this match, scheduled for the night session (7pm local time, 11pm UK and midnight in France), the 37-year-old Monfils is savouring his visible progress and sniffing the big matches that he was kept away from for too long between August 2022 and May 2023 because of a foot injury.

“I’m moving better, I’m trying harder,” he said this week after being untouchable on serve in the first round against Dusan Lajovic (7-6, 6-4). “Everyone around me tells me I’m still young. I feel fast on the court. So why not go for the big shots in the big tournaments?”

MONFILS: “MY AVERAGE LEVEL IS IMPROVING EVERY DAY”

When he uttered that sentence, Monfils was still a long way from looking ahead to a third-round match against Alcaraz. He prefers, he says, not to look at his draw and the task presented in the second round against Jordan Thompson (6-7, 6-1, 6-2) already seemed a test in itself. He overcame it, confirming a state of form that is growing in leaps and bounds after the set he took from Jannik Sinner in Rotterdam, the semi-final run in Doha and his progress to the round of 16 in Indian Wells (with wins over Hubert Hurkacz and Cam Norrie).

“I always say that a really good player is one whose daily level doesn’t fall below a certain level,” said Monfils, currently ranked 47. “My average level is improving every day. I hold my own physically by playing almost every week, and that helps me to project myself.

You don’t have to tickle Monfils for very long to understand where his ambition lies: to become a top seed in tournaments again and get closer to his pre-injury ranking of 20th in the world. “It changes your life to have this ranking,” he smiles. You’re exempt from certain first rounds, you avoid the big boys from the outset, so you don’t have to play as much, you’re less tired.

Even though his victory at the Stockholm tournament at the end of 2023 did him a world of good, Monfils does not formulate his objectives in terms of “trophies” or “rounds” to get through. Rather, they are in terms of sensations, pleasure and attitude.

MOST OF ALL, I WAS FED UP OF HEARING PEOPLE SAY: “ISN’T THIS ONE YEAR TOO MANY?

Gael Monfils

“I was not even walking last year, he said. “Last year here was terrible,” he said..”I didn’t really start being able to shoot during the sessions until the summer. But beyond that, I was fed up with hearing people talk. ‘Isn’t this one year too many? Andy Murray said it best: it’s a pain in the arse to be asked: “When are you going to stop?’ I’ve managed to ignore it. Yes, I’m of a certain age. But I have the right to be less strong, to accept it and to work to achieve success and confidence.”

Monfils confirmed what he said in the UTS ‘All on the Table’ video show: he hopes to play until he is 40, which will take him to 2026. “I’m super-transparent because it’s the end,” he said. “In my vlog (his video diary on YouTube), I’m working my arse off. In Montpellier, I have no feeling and by the end of the episode I’m almost in the final of a tournament. I believe in it, I dig in. There are ups and downs, but more than anything, I believe in it.” Even against Alcaraz.

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