Veteran French tennis player Gael Monfils was given an on-court homage on Tuesday after losing his first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Monfils, who announced in October that 2026 would be his last season on the ATP tour, went down to the Australian qualifier Dane Sweeny 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.
Following a four-hour epic, tournament director Craig Tiley stepped out onto the Kia Arena at Melbourne Park and embraced Monfils.
"On behalf of all the Australian fans I want to thank you for not only an unbelievable career but for your spirit, for your attitude and for teaching us how to play this beautiful game. Well done."
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Monfils, 39, is only one of six men to have played 20 times at the season's first Grand Slam tournament since tennis was opened to professionals in 1968.
"My journey at the Australian Open started in 2003 when I came here for the first time," said Monfils. "And now we are in 2026 and somehow it's the finish line. Thank you for this amazing ride."
Monfils, who has won 13 titles during his career, reached a high of six in the world rankings during his pomp. He came into the tournament at 110 in the world.
His fellow Frenchmen Hugo Gaston, Ugo Humbert and Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard also exited the tournament.
Gaston retired injured while trailing by two sets to the the defending champion Jannik Sinner while Humbert went down to the eighth seed Ben Shelton in straight sets.
Mpetshi Perricard lost in five sets t Sebastian Baez from Agentina.
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In the women's draw, Madison Keys admitted she felt nervous as she launched the defence of her crown against Oleksandra Oliynykova from Ukraine.
Keys beat Aryna Sabalenka 12 months ago to win her first major title at the age of 29.
On Tuesday, she lost the first four games against her 25-year-old opponent who was making her debut in the main draw at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
"I've been thinking about the moment of walking out on centre court again for basically a year," the American said. "Obviously I was very nervous at the start."
Keys recovered her early slump to win the opener 7-6 before claiming the second 6-1.
Elsewhere in the women's draw, Janice Tjen became the first Indonesian since Yayuk Basuki in 1998 to win a match at the Australian Open..
The 23-year-old outwitted the 22nd seed Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 7-6.
Tjen was ranked 413 in the world last January but has shot up to 59. She will play the Czech veteran Karolina Pliskova in the second round.
