Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Tuesday October 8, 2024 at 10:12 a.m.
Winner of Ugo Humbert this Tuesday in a Franco-French duel, Gaël Monfils became at 38 the second oldest player to reach the round of 16 of the Chinese Masters 1000 after Roger Federer in 2019. The French veteran, who will find Carlos Alcaraz in the next round, assures that he would not be there if he was not such a tennis enthusiast.
Gaël Monfils is eternal. Ugo Humbert, beaten in three sets by his elder on Tuesday in the 3rd round of the Masters 1000 in Shanghai while he remained in a final (lost against Arthur Fils) in Tokyo, was able to see this once again. Perhaps Carlos Alcaraz, whom the French veteran will meet again in the next round two months after a defeat which made him lose his nerves like never before, will also have a new glimpse of it, we must hope. In the meantime, the person concerned still has just as much fun on the courts. And at over 38 years old, he is still capable of beating all the players on the circuit today, including the best. At an age where many of his colleagues have already hung up (sometimes even for a long time), “La Monf'” also continues to write the history of tennis. Tuesday, after playing a nasty trick on his young compatriot, admittedly diminished by an injury to his left leg in the last round, the Parisian thus became the second oldest player since the creation of this Shanghai Masters 1000 to climb in the fourth round (round of 16). Only a certain Roger Federer is ahead of him.
Monfils: “Carlos has regained absolute confidence”
Like the legendary Swiss, Monfils owes this incredible longevity above all to a major asset: his love of tennis. He proclaimed it again on Tuesday after his victory. “The secret? It’s passion. I have a passion for playing tennis, and in addition to being passionate, I know how to be patient. Because sometimes it doesn’t work out the way I want it to, but I stay disciplined , I continue to work and I rely on everything my team does to try to always get the best from me And in the end, it’s easy, because I love this sport”, laughs. The former world number 8, who expects an even greater challenge than in Cincinnati against Alcaraz who has become practically unplayable again. “Every day is different, Carlos is playing very well again, he has regained absolute confidence, he has just won in Beijing, he has a string of victories so it will be very difficult, that’s for sure.”
