Gael Monfils might have confirmed his retirement from tennis over a year ago, but he still managed to stun fans by stepping away from the sport early.
Many expected the Frenchman to play events in Lyon and Paris for his farewell, but his competitive career appears to have finished with a second round defeat to Learner Tien at the 2026 US Open.
Monfils retirement was reportedly cut short due to his split from Elina Svitolina and he’s left his ardernt fans feeling very dissatisfied with the way the tennis legend has bowed out from the game.
However, there is set to be one more chance for his fans to see him in action in 2026, despite the fact he won’t be playing competitively again.
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Monfils has signed up to play Stan Wawrinka’s swansong, which is set to take place in Geneva on December 19th.
Alongside Monfils, Wawrinka had also confirmed that he was set to retire from the sport at the end of the 2026 season, with his final ATP event set to be the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Six weeks later, and Wawrinka will be waving goodbye to all his Swiss fans and he’s brought along some very special friends from his ATP past.
Wawrinka is set to play a set against Monfils at the event, before an all-star doubles contest featuring the pair and Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Federer and Wawrinka will pair up once again to take on Monfils and Murray in a two-set contest.
All four men were intrinsically linked during their time on the ATP Tour for much of the 2000s and 2010s, although Monfils and Wawrinka only managed to play each other seven times.
Monfils leads the head-to-head with four victories in those seven matches, including a win in the round of 64 at Wimbledon in their final-ever meeting in 2024.
Speaking about their relationship earlier this year, Wawrinka was full of praise for Monfils.
“He’s one of my best friends on tour,” said the Swiss legend. “We’ve practised so many times, not just at tournaments, but sometimes in Switzerland.
“We’ve always had amazing fun together. It was great that we both got a wild card here [at the Monte Carlo Masters] and had a chance to have one last practice on centre court. We enjoyed it a lot.”
The ATP Tour will undoubtedly be less star-studded, and a far sight less entertaining, without the beautiful movements of Monfils and Wawrinka in the sport.
Still, at least fans do indeed have one final chance to wave goodbye to the departing icons.
