Gael Monfils has officially retired from tennis after 22 years.
The flamboyant Frenchman was expected to bring the curtain down on his glittering career at his home tournament at the Paris Masters, but he has already appeared on the ITIA’s inactive list in recent days.
Monfils had confirmed that he would retire in 2026 after a masterful career that brought him to a career ranking high of world No 6 on the ATP Tour.
The Frenchman also claimed 13 career titles and reached, three Masters finals, and three Grand Slam semifinals.
Monfils would surely have collected more titles if it were not for the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal, who were all at the peak of their powers at the same time as the Frenchman.
He was asked which of the ‘big three’ were the toughest to play in his career and he was forthright with his answer.
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“Of course, for me, number one is Novak Djokovic. I never beat him. I never beat him. And so far, maybe this year is my last chance if I have to face him,” said Monfils earlier this year.
“But for me, Novak has this capability to actually answer all my questions. Because tennis is a lot of questions. You ask, you answer, you ask, you answer. He was just too good. And of course, he is a legend of our sport. So no shame in that.”
However, Monfils was under no illusions the toughness of having to be on the opposite side of the court to Nadal or Federer.
“Rafa, I could beat him, but the thing is, he beat me way more than I beat him. I think I only beat him twice. But he was extremely hard to play against with his physicality. He was imposing on you like a really rough and physical match.
“His capability of moving the ball was extremely different because he was a lefty. So he was just different as well. So another big legend.
“Federer, he was just like a quicker thinker, quicker player.
“Everything that you may think that you want to do against him, he knew it sometime before you, and then he could put you in a very bad situation.
“It was unreal how he could escape as well from an awkward situation for himself. His finesse, his flair of tennis was completely different.
“And somehow those three guys, three of the biggest legends of our sport, were just beautiful to play against, beautiful to learn [from] and also extremely fun for me to play against.”
Monfils ended his career with six victories against Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic in his entire career from 50 matches.
He tasted victory against Federer on four occasions, beat Nadal twice, and left with no victories from 20 matches against Djokovic.
