You knew it had to happen eventually, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing. One of the great tennis acts has reached the end of his run … and jump … and flick … and dash.
For more than 20 years, Gaël Monfils didn’t play professional tennis, so much as he performed it. If entertainment value could be converted into ranking points, then Monfils would have taken his place alongside contemporaries like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
For our money, the best pure athlete in the sport’s history, Monfils lived by his own sporting code: If it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it. Monfils was described in terms usually reserved for French artists, not French athletes. He was bold, daring, shocking and expressive. He resisted convention. The court was his canvas.
But Monfils—who played his final Roland Garros match on Monday at 39 years old—bolstered his style with substance.
🥺 C'EST FINI !
— Prime Video Sport France (@PVSportFR) May 25, 2026
Gaël Monfils craque dans le dernier set face à Hugo Gaston et fait ses adieux à Roland-Garros 💔#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/o2rAWtLsv0
He was a top-shelf player, ranked as high as No. 6. He is the winner of 13 titles on a variety of surfaces and a semifinalist at multiple majors.
In 2021, he married his longtime girlfriend, Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina, and revealed himself to be a present, supportive and committed husband and father.
For all of Monfils’s flights of fancy and his he-did-not-just-do-that shotmaking, can you name one moment of off-court controversy? One regrettable quote? This was all joy and box office value, with no complicated artistic B-side.
In the end, he stands for the proposition that creativity matters and that those who take pleasure in their work bring pleasure to others.
Take a bow, Gaël Monfils. What a show you gave us.
