Gael Monfils becomes oldest player to win an ATP title with Auckland victory
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Gael Monfils of France serving to Zizou Berges of Belgium during his 6-3, 6-4 Auckland Classic final win on Jan 11, which made the 38-year-old the oldest player to win an ATP final since the Tour launched in 1990.
PHOTO: AFP
AUCKLAND – Gael Monfils became the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history when the 38-year-old swept to victory in the final of the Auckland Classic on Jan 11.
The Frenchman outclassed Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 to eclipse Swiss great Roger Federer in the record books, a day before the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Monfils powered to a 13th career title and became the oldest player to win an ATP final since the tour began in 1990. Federer was two months younger when he won the Swiss Indoors in Basel in 2019.
The flamboyant Monfils roared and flexed to the crowd after clinching victory.
He said he was proud to win at an age when others have usually hung up the racket.
“Age is a number but I keep working,” he said. “I keep believing that I can play high-quality tennis and I’ve been showing it this week, so I’m very happy.”
Monfils, who won his first ATP Tour title in 2005, added: “It was 20 years ago. I still have the passion to play tennis.
“I still feel like I strike a very good ball, so hopefully many more to come.”
In hot conditions, the Frenchman defied his age to play with greater athleticism than Bergs, who was contesting his first final. The 25-year-old dropped his serve early in both sets and lacked the firepower to break back against Monfils’ clinical serve and varied groundstrokes.
Monfils will hope to take the momentum to Melbourne, where he faces fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 21, in the first round of the Australian Open.
On the women’s tour, rising American McCartney Kessler upset two-time champion Elise Mertens to win the Hobart International and secure her second WTA title on Jan 11 with a battling 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win.
The world No. 67 needed just over two hours to topple the 34th-ranked Belgian, who won her two crowns in Hobart in 2017 and 2018, and finished second in 2024.
It was a perfect lead-up to the Australian Open for the 25-year-old, who will make her Grand Slam main-draw debut against China’s Zhang Shuai.
Mertens, 29, faces Swiss Viktorija Golubic in her opening round at Melbourne Park. The Belgian reached the semi-finals of the year’s opening Major in 2018.
Meanwhile, Madison Keys fought through a leg injury to beat Jessica Pegula 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in an all-American Adelaide International final on Jan 11, continuing her good form heading into the Australian Open.
The title was the ninth of Keys’ career and set her up perfectly for a first-round meeting with American Ann Li in Melbourne. AFP, REUTERS
