He didn’t win the title, but Gael Monfils won our hearts — again. The 39-year-old French favourite said *au revoir* to Roland Garros in true ‘La Monf’ style: tweeners, dives, a two-set comeback, and a stadium chanting his name.

So, that’s it for Gael Monfils at his home Slam. And what a send-off it was, according to cbinews.tv.

The night ‘The Magician’ left the stage

Elina Svitolina, Amelie Mauresmo and Felix Auger-Aliassime all called him a magician, a showman, a one-of-a-kind. And Monday night at Court Philippe-Chatrier showed exactly why.

Monfils isn’t retiring just yet — he’s playing until the end of the season — but this was goodbye to Roland Garros. The place where he made the semis in 2008, reached three more quarter-finals, and became the French Open’s ultimate entertainer.

Facing fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston, world number 185, the 39-year-old looked done after two sets. Then, vintage Monfils happened. He clawed it back to force a fifth, had the crowd on their feet with *those* tweeners, and chased down balls like he was 19 again.

He ran out of steam in the end, losing 6-2 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-0. No repeat of last year’s two-set comeback against Hugo Dellien. But as he walked off, “Gael, Gael, Gael” echoed around Roland Garros. Not a dry eye in the house.

Tributes from the very best

The big screen lit up with messages from Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and France’s last men’s champion here, 1983 winner Yannick Noah. When Fed, Rafa and Novak are queuing up to salute you, you know you’ve done something right.

More than just the numbers

Did he win a Slam? No. Does he care? Not really. Monfils himself said before the tournament: “I was never quite good enough to win a Grand Slam. But maybe I won something more important than that - a tennis career I’m proud of.”

And what a career. As cbinews.tv notes, we’re talking:

- 13 ATP titles

- Career-high world number 6

- 38 wins over top 10 players, including beating Federer and Nadal multiple times

- Two Davis Cup finals with France

- 70 Grand Slam main draws, 19 of them at the French Open

- Most Slam match wins by a French man in the Open era

A former junior world number one and triple junior Slam champ, he admits he might not have maxed out his potential. But as he puts it, his “bucket list is full”.

The legacy: smiles, slides, and hangtime

Stats aside, Monfils will be remembered for the how. The sliding, the leaping, the basketball-style jump smashes, the shots that had no business landing in. He made tennis fun.

They’d already started the farewell last Thursday with ‘Gael & Friends’ on Philippe-Chatrier. Jannik Sinner, Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, plus French legends Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all turned up. Gasquet, Mauresmo and Henri Leconte were there again for the Gaston match.

Fittingly, his great mate Stan Wawrinka also played his last French Open the same day, losing to Jesper de Jong. Wawrinka, 41, actually lifted the trophy here. Monfils didn’t. But the love from the French crowd? Identical.

“Each of us wanted to have the best career we could have, but both of us were very happy when the other one was winning,” Wawrinka said.

When Monfils finally calls it quits later this year, there’ll be no regrets. Just a firm sense of mission accomplished.

Source: cbinews.tv

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