10 Photos of Gael Monfils: Tennis Player's Emotional French Open Farewell Reduces Wife Elina Svitolina to Tears

Gael Monfils played what is expected to be his final match at the French Open in Paris on Monday night, losing in five sets to fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston as an emotional Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd, including his wife Elina Svitolina, roared and then wept him off the court.

Monfils, 39, had already announced that this would be his last season on tour and his last appearance at Roland Garros, the stage where he first won the boys' title in 2004 and later reached the semi-finals in 2008.

Over more than two decades, the Paris-born showman became one of the sport's most recognisable entertainers, defined less by trophies than by the way he filled stadiums and treated centre court as a playground.

On Monday, he walked into Chatrier for one last night session and, for a while, tried to bend time. Monfils's opponent, Hugo Gaston, raced ahead, taking the first two sets 6-2, 6-3. Then the old Monfils flickered back to life.

He chased lost causes, pulled off outrageous retrievals and whipped the crowd into the kind of frenzy that used to feel routine at Roland Garros. He clawed back the third and fourth sets, 6-3, 6-2, and the noise grew into something close to defiance.

By the decider, though, the tank was empty. The fifth set unravelled quickly, 6-0 to Gaston, despite the stadium's refusal to accept the script. On match point, the chants of 'Ga-el, Ga-el' rolled down from the stands yet again. Monfils saved one, but not the second. After 3 hours and 22 minutes, his French Open career was officially over.

Monfils Bows Out as Crowd Break Down

The news came after months of Monfils hinting that his body could no longer keep pace with his imagination. On Monday, however, the evening was never really about the scoreline. The tennis simply set up the farewell.

As Gaston walked forward, he did not play the victor. He hugged Monfils, spoke briefly, then turned to the stands and raised a hand towards his opponent, urging the crowd to keep their ovation going for the man they had come to see. It was a small, generous gesture from a younger Frenchman who grew up watching 'La Monf.'

An on-court ceremony followed, more like a curtain call than a routine post-match interview. The big screens played a montage of Gaël Monfils' Roland Garros highlights: that junior crown two decades ago, the 2008 semi-final run, the trick shots and the impossible defence that became his signature. The audience, despite the late hour and the looming last metro, stayed put.

Monfils took the microphone and, in French, started where many careers start, long before the first ranking point. 'I am here tonight because of those two people,' he said, nodding to his parents.

He moved through a roll call that mapped his journey through French tennis: his siblings, the French Tennis Federation, and then his long-time compatriots and friends Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon.

He left Svitolina, the current world No 7, for last. TV cameras cut to her several times, tears streaking as he spoke. 'Without her, I may not be here tonight,' Monfils said, explaining that she had supported him 'as a man and not as a tennis man.'

He thanked her for their three-year-old daughter, Skai, whom he described as his greatest gift. It was unusually raw for a public goodbye, more family gathering than formal send-off.

Tributes Pour In

In case you missed it, the respect Monfils commands in the locker room has long outstripped his trophy count. That was underlined by a second video message beamed onto the screens, this time featuring some of the biggest names of his era and the next.

Novak Djokovic, who has known Monfils since their early teens, called him 'one of the most likeable guys, fun guys out there,' adding, 'There's no one that doesn't like you, Gael. I think that's your biggest victory.' Djokovic went further, saying the legacy Monfils leaves 'not just as a tennis player, but as a person will stay forever.'

From the newer generation, world No 1 Jannik Sinner called himself 'a huge fan,' admitting that players would miss Monfils particularly in the locker room. Carlos Alcaraz and 1983 French Open champion Yannick Noah also joined the chorus, while Tsonga, Gasquet and Simon, once dubbed 'The New Musketeers' of French tennis alongside Monfils, joined him on court for a collective embrace.

It can be recalled that Monfils is the last of that quartet still officially active. Even now, he is reluctant to draw a hard line under his career. Speaking to reporters later, he said he plans to play the rest of the 2026 season, though he admitted he is not yet certain which events he will enter.

He is currently hoping for wild cards at Wimbledon and the US Open, where he reached the semi-finals in 2016, and expects to sign off in Paris again at the Paris Masters in November.

Svitolina, meanwhile, remains very much at the start of her own campaign in Paris. She won the Italian Open earlier this month and came through her first-round match on Monday, and is considered among the leading contenders for this year's women's title.

For Monfils, the night seemed to close one chapter of French tennis without quite opening another. The country has younger talents, but nobody who replicates his particular mix of athletic theatre and easy charm.

At Roland Garros, where almost every year brought another improbable escape or acrobatic winner, he exits as something rarer than a champion, a player whose defeat could still feel like a celebration.