At peace: Gaël Monfils bids farewell to Paris, surrounded by the Musketeers
The Rolex Paris Masters crowd paid tribute to Gaël Monfils on Tuesday evening in a fifteen-minute ceremony, with Tsonga, Gasquet and Simon on court. The Frenchman, retired since October, dedicated his final lap of honour to his daughter.
No match, no tears in public, but a long ovation. Gaël Monfils said goodbye to the Paris crowd on Tuesday 3 November on centre court at the Rolex Paris Masters. The ceremony lasted around fifteen minutes, after the first match of the evening session, and ended shortly before 9pm.
The Frenchman walked on court to applause, welcomed by tournament director Cédric Pioline and the president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton. A video retraced his years in the Davis Cup, as a junior at Roland-Garros and on the tour. In one stand, a tifo read "Merci Gaël" (Thank you Gaël).
A really difficult moment
Microphone in hand, he made no secret of how hard the moment was.
He said he had thought it would be insurmountable to come and say goodbye while looking the crowd in the eye, Tennis Majors reported.
He added that he would not hide the fact that it was a really difficult moment, referring to a complicated period in his personal life. He nonetheless gave the verdict of a man at ease, saying he was truly happy and truly at peace with everything he had achieved.
He thanked the crowd, his coaches and his parents, recalling that he had first played here in 2004. His father was in the arena. His mother had stayed with his 4-year-old daughter, Skaï, to whom he dedicated his final lap of honour. He told the crowd that she complained he did not talk about her enough, teasing him that he was not mentioning her enough.
The Musketeers reunited
The highlight of the evening: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon joined him on court, reuniting for a photo the "New Musketeers" of French tennis. Benoît Paire and the singer M. Pokora were also there, as were Arnaud Clément and Henri Leconte, in the stands.
Tennis Majors describes a calm, melancholy atmosphere, far more understated than his farewell at Roland-Garros in May, after his first-round defeat to Hugo Gaston. Monfils had announced his retirement on 5 October.
A little earlier, Ben Shelton, who sees him as a big brother, had reached the last 16 by beating Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4, before paying tribute to him.
What next?
The tournament goes on without him. On Wednesday, Quentin Halys, Arthur Rinderknech and Luca Van Assche reached the last 16 (read our article). The last-16 matches are scheduled for Thursday, and the final for Sunday 8 November.
