Monfils says goodbye to the US Open and New York celebrates his career

New York paid a final, warm tribute to Gael Monfils. The French tennis player, who turned 40 on Tuesday, played his last match in a Slam, losing in the second round of the US Open to American Learner Tien with a score of 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

New York, Monfils’ second home

The result was expected, but the crowd at the Louis Armstrong Stadium tried until the end to prolong the evening, spelling out the Frenchman’s name in what he himself considers his “second home”. In New York, in fact, Monfils lived some of the most significant moments of his careerfrom his tournament debut in 2005 against Novak Djokovic to the memorable 2014 match lost in five sets against Roger Federer after having two match points. In 2016 he reached the semi-finals, stopped once again by Djokovic.

The 40th birthday party

The former world number 6, now 311 in the ATP ranking, had arrived at the US Open thanks to a wild card granted by the organizers. On Tuesday he celebrated his birthday with a first-round victory against Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, becoming the third forty year old in history to win a match in the men’s draw of the tournament after Ken Rosewall and Jimmy Connors.

Against Tien, however, the difference in age and physical condition made itself felt. The 20-year-old American set up the match with continuous changes of pace and numerous drop shots, forcing the Frenchman to run incessantly. “Sorry Gael for hitting so many drop shots,” Tien joked in the courtside interview after the game. Monfils had eight break opportunities without managing to materialize them and, despite some flashes of his spectacular repertoire, he struggled to keep up with his opponent.

During the match he showed obvious signs of tiredness. “I want to do it but my body tells me no, I’m in pain,” he confided to his corner, where he was also present his wife Elina Svitolina. At the end the crowd stood up to support him and the Frenchman responded with some high school shots, also saving four match points before giving up after 2 hours and 16 minutes. At the end, greetings to the New York fans: “You are my second favorite crowd, after Paris of course. It was a real honor to play in front of you and put on a fantastic show. Thank you for everything. Thank you New York.”