Gael Monfils is a French former tennis player who said a last goodbye to the Paris crowd on November 3, 2026, after 22 years as a professional. He won 13 ATP titles, reached No. 6 in the world and two Grand Slam semi-finals, and remains the last Frenchman to have played the ATP Finals, in 2016.

He spent his final season on a farewell tour, from his last Roland-Garros in May to his last Grand Slam match at the US Open in September, a few days after his 40th birthday. Known as “La Monf”, he was one of the great showmen of his era.

When and why did Gael Monfils retire?

Monfils announced in October 2025 that 2026 would be his last season, with the aim of playing until he turned 40 on September 1, 2026.

He has been officially retired since October 5, 2026, when he asked to be placed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players. That listing ruled him out of Lyon and of a final tournament at home in Paris. He linked his decision to his separation from Elina Svitolina, saying he had not been able to train the way he wanted.

“I gave everything,” he said in Paris. “I’m really happy, really at peace with everything I was able to do.”

How did Paris say goodbye to Gael Monfils?

The Rolex Paris Masters held a 15-minute ceremony for him on Court Central on November 3, 2026, during its 40th edition. Tournament director Cédric Pioline and French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton welcomed him onto court, before the crowd unveiled a giant “Merci Gaël” tifo.

He was joined by the other three “New Musketeers” of French tennis, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, of whom he was the last still playing. He dedicated his last lap of honour to his daughter Skai.

“I won’t hide from you that it’s a really difficult moment, saying goodbye to the most beautiful thing this earth could give us: you, this magnificent crowd,” he said in French. “Twenty-two years, 22 years now that I’ve been a professional tennis player, 22 years of an extraordinary story that I could never have really dreamed of.”

Monfils played 11 editions of the tournament, with a 16-10 record. He reached the final twice: Novak Djokovic beat him 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) in 2009, and Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1) in 2010, after Monfils had beaten Roger Federer 7-6 (7), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (4) in the semi-finals.

How did Gael Monfils’s farewell tour go?

Monfils began his last season in Auckland, where he was the defending champion and received a traditional Māori ceremony. At the Australian Open, Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny beat him 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 in his last match in Melbourne.

In Indian Wells, 21 years after his debut there, he beat Alexis Galarneau 6-3, 6-4, before Felix Auger-Aliassime beat him 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4.

On clay, Alexander Bublik beat him 6-4, 6-4 in Monte-Carlo, and Camilo Ugo Carabelli beat him 6-3, 6-4 in Madrid, on courts he first stepped onto in 2003.

In August, at 39, he beat Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-4 in Montreal to become the oldest man to win a match at the Canadian Open since Pancho Gonzales in 1970.

How did Gael Monfils say goodbye to Roland-Garros?

Monfils received a wildcard for his last Roland-Garros. On the eve of the tournament, he said Roland-Garros had given him 99.9% of his dreams, except the trophy.

On Court Philippe-Chatrier, he came back from two sets down against fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston, who won 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 as Monfils needed treatment on his left foot in the fifth set.

“Roland-Garros, I love you, I owe you everything, goodbye until we meet again,” he told the crowd in his farewell speech.

Before the tournament, Naomi Osaka called Monfils “the GOAT” for what he represented to her as a young Black player.

What was Gael Monfils’s last Grand Slam match?

Monfils played his last major at the 2026 US Open, where he received a wildcard. On his 40th birthday, he beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 to become the oldest man to win a US Open match since Jimmy Connors in 1992.

In the second round, Learner Tien beat him 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. It was the 201st and last Grand Slam match of his career. He leaves the majors with 131 wins, more than any other French player.

What are Gael Monfils’s best results?

Monfils won 13 ATP titles, three at ATP 500 level and ten at ATP 250 level. The first came in Sopot in 2005, his 12th in Stockholm in 2023, and his last in Auckland in January 2025, when he beat Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in the final to become, at 38, the oldest ATP champion at the time.

He reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros in 2008 and at the US Open in 2016, the year he reached his career-high No. 6 and qualified for the ATP Finals.

As a junior, he won three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2004 (the Australian Open, Roland-Garros and Wimbledon) and finished the year as junior world No. 1.

Why is Gael Monfils so popular?

“He’s an incredible catalyst of energy, probably the most popular Frenchman of the last decades,” Pioline said before the Paris ceremony. “When he was on court, something always happened.”

His acrobatic defence, leaping smashes and five-set comebacks made him a crowd favourite everywhere. At Roland-Garros in 2025, he came back from two sets down to beat Hugo Dellien 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in a late-night comeback, his 12th five-set win at the tournament, a record he credited to “magic”.

What do other players say about Gael Monfils?

Stefanos Tsitsipas called him one of his best friends on tour and “an absolutely lovely soul”, and said tennis was losing a rare personality.

Arthur Fils, who grew up watching him, said he thought of Monfils during a fifth set at Roland-Garros in 2025.

How old is Gael Monfils and who is his family?

Gael Monfils was born on September 1, 1986, in Paris. According to his ATP profile, he is 6ft 4in (1.93m) tall.

His father, Rufin, is from Guadeloupe and played football professionally. His mother, Sylvette, is a nurse from Martinique. His younger brother Daryl also played tennis, and the two played one doubles match together on the ATP Tour, in Montpellier in 2012.

Monfils married Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina in July 2021. Their daughter Skai was born in October 2022. In 2026, he said they had separated.

When did Gael Monfils turn professional?

Monfils made his ATP debut in 2004, winning his first match in Metz as a wildcard. Later that year, at 18, he won his first match in Paris, against Thomas Enqvist.

In 2005, he won his first title in Sopot, reached finals in Metz and Lyon and finished the season inside the top 30.

Does Gael Monfils play UTS?

Yes. Under the nickname “La Monf”, he made his UTS debut in 2020 at the Mouratoglou Academy. He reached the semi-finals in Los Angeles in 2023 and at the Grand Final in London in 2024, and played the first UTS event in Nîmes in 2025.

What does Gael Monfils love outside tennis?

Monfils is a basketball fan who has often said he would have liked to play the sport. He also supports Paris Saint-Germain, and in 2025 he wanted to watch the Champions League final during Roland-Garros.

He streams on Twitch, where he announced his Paris farewell ceremony himself.