Monfils shares retirement bombshell after Draper loss at Roland-Garros
The Frenchman is happy with how he’s feeling physically after playing close to seven hours over his two matches in Paris
© Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
French veteran Gael Monfils isn’t going anywhere. After pushing the world’s fifth-best player for well over three hours on court Philippe-Chatrier and coming within inches of forcing a deciding set, the 38-year-old has given a big clue as to when he may retire.
“Well, I know that I will play next year, whatever happens,” he said late on Thursday evening in Paris.
“Today, once again, I played a big match against the fifth-best player [in the world]. He wins Masters 1000s, and I was playing hand-in-hand with him.
“So I can’t say that physically I have any issues. The way I feel physically for the time being, I wouldn’t say it’s my last Roland. I think if I work, I think it will be okay.
“It’s more in the head. More a question of what I really want to do in my life. So it will necessarily depend on what I want to do, the sacrifices I have to make.
“Maybe at the end of the year, I might say, ‘No, it’s over.’ Who knows?”
The temptations of “real life”
All around Monfils, his peers have been retiring. First it was countryman Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, then Gile Simon, and most recently, Richard Gasquet on Thursday. Though he personally is showing no signs of slowing up, Monfils is acutely aware of how times are changing.
“Each time it’s different,” he said. “I have got used to not seeing the guys for a while.
“It’s a new page, and it’s a new page for us to do something else. So we see each other a lot outside of tennis, and that’s cool. That’s great too.
“I must say that it’s even far more tempting to go off and meet up with them quickly, because yeah, tennis is cool, but with Jo, for example, we live near each other, and when we see each other with the kids, it’s great.
“This evening we see our kids playing together, and that’s real life. And we are very proud of what we have done, for sure. But we’re like old friends with real lives, kids. I mean, we are really happy, and those moments are precious.”
