Monfils plans summer push to play until 40 after Roland-Garros farewell – the tournaments he hopes to play
At 39, after his final Roland-Garros match against Hugo Gaston, Gaël Monfils reveals a schedule focused on the American hard-court swing. His personal goal is clear: to play until his 40th birthday on September 1st, pushing his career to a round figure.
Gaël Monfils, Roland-Garros 2026 | © Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
Gaël Monfils has played his last match at Roland-Garros, but he wants the rest of his career to last another four months, and the plan is built around one wish. “Why do I want to get to the States? Because I want to play until 40. That’s my wish. Unfortunately, I was born in September 1986.” Monfils, unlike his friend Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2022, is not retiring at Roland-Garros – he is retiring after it.
The 39-year-old turns 40 on 1 September 2026, during the US Open. That date is the spine of his roadmap. “My wish is to be an athlete who plays until 40 years old. Nico says he’s locked me in until 40, maybe 40 years and a few days, let’s see. Like Stan (Wawrinka), like LeBron (James), like Cristiano (Ronaldo), like (Zlatan) Ibra(himovic), like all the athletes who have managed to continue their sport until the age of 40. That’s what I want to do.”
Summer schedule: Wimbledon and A BIT OF usa?
A Wimbledon wildcard has been requested, Monfils confirmed. “I think my agent asked for a wildcard at Wimbledon. We wait and see. I know there are a lot of things to that, and a lot of guys deserve it maybe more than me.” Tournament director Dani Vallverdú has offered him a wildcard for Washington, which Monfils won in 2016. The Canadian Open is on the list – “I want to say goodbye to Montréal.”
Then a US Open wildcard request to the French Federation, with September’s birthday landing mid-tournament.
In between, Monfils plans to return to Europe for his three-year-old daughter Skaï’s first day of school. “I really want to go back for the start of school of my daughter, first year she will go to school, so I will go back to Europe to be with her.” In other words : the US summer will not be complete.
Autumn return and clay court struggles
The autumn return is clearer: Lyon’s new ATP event, maybe Vienna at Lamperin’s request, and Paris-La Défense – the new Masters 1000 venue replacing Bercy since 2025 – as the closing chapter.
Maybe the French legend will have more fun on the run. “On clay, let’s not hide it, for three, four years now, I’ve been struggling. To get winning serves, free points, it’s become more and more difficult. A good American hard court will give me a helping hand.”
Monfils lost his first-round match to fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston on Monday night, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0, after three hours and 22 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He is the second high-profile retirement of the day at Roland-Garros, after Stan Wawrinka was beaten by Jesper de Jong on Court Simonne-Mathieu. Both men received farewell wildcards from the French Federation.
