Ageless Monfils rewrites Montreal history at 39
At 39, in the final season of a glittering career, Gael Monfils beat Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday night to reach the second round in Montreal — and became the oldest man to win a match at the Canadian Open since Pancho Gonzales in 1970.
Gael Monfils, Montreal 2026 | © Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP
Gael Monfils rolled back the years once more. The 39-year-old Frenchman, playing on a wild card in the twilight of his career, beat Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday night to reach the second round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers – and, in doing so, wrote his name into the record books.
With the win, Monfils becomes the second-oldest man in the Open Era to win a main-draw singles match at the Canadian Open, behind only Richard “Pancho” Gonzales, who was 42 when he last did so in 1970. At 39 years and 335 days, “La Monf” is the oldest man to win a match in Montreal since that Gonzales run — and he sealed it, fittingly, with his trademark golf-swing celebration.
It was vintage Monfils on serve. Though he landed just 45% of his first deliveries, he was almost untouchable when he did, winning 84% of his first-serve points (26/31) and firing eight aces to Majchrzak’s one. He struck 25 winners to 13, and although the free-flowing tennis also produced 38 unforced errors, he was the sharper man in the key moments – converting four of his nine break points and edging the contest 74 points to 65.
Majchrzak, the Polish No 1 making his tournament debut, saved one match point before Monfils finally closed it out.
The result is a rare bright spot in a difficult farewell campaign for the former world No 6, who had managed a 2026 record of just 3-7 coming in and is making his 15th and final appearance at this event before retiring at the end of the season. It also adds another chapter to a remarkable late-career surge: only last year, at 38, he became the oldest ATP Tour champion since 1990 by winning Auckland.
A two-time Montreal semi-finalist (2016, 2019), Monfils now faces a stern test of his fairytale run: next up is the No 12 seed, American Learner Tien, in the round of 64. Another incredible moment in an incredible career — and, perhaps, not the last of this final season.
Montreal Masters 1000, 1st round results
- A. Michelsen d. J.-L. Struff — 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
- G. Monfils d. K. Majchrzak — 6-4, 6-4
- V. Kopriva d. A. Galarneau — 6-4, 6-4
- J. Munar d. R. Hijikata — 7-6(3), 6-3
- C. Moutet d. M. Fucsovics — 6-1, 6-2
- N. Mejia d. M. Landaluce — 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
- M. Navone d. M. Berrettini — 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3
- C. Norrie d. C. Ugo Carabelli — 7-6(5), 6-4
- J. Duckworth d. C. O’Connell — 6-3, 6-1
- Y. Hanfmann d. B. Bonzi — 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
- N. Borges d. A. Kovacevic — 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-4
- G. Diallo d. K. Jacquet — 6-7(1), 6-3, 6-2
- J. Shang d. A. Vallejo — 6-3, 6-3
- M. Cilic d. S. Shimabukuro — 7-6(2), 6-1
- M. Kecmanovic d. M. Zheng — 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(5)
- D. Altmaier d. A. Vukic — 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4
- T. Droguet d. L. Van Assche — 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7)
