Gael Monfils was full of gratitude as he played his final Roland Garros match. The veteran Frenchman suffered a five-set loss against compatriot Hugo Gaston in his swansong in Paris on Monday.
Despite losing the first two sets against his countryman, Monfils bounced back strongly to win the next two sets. However, he was bageled in the fifth and final set.
After the match, the 39-year-old said he has mixed feelings, and it is not easy for him to describe them.
“It’s a mixed feeling between happiness, sadness, and it’s a lot of feelings, a lot of emotion,” Monfils said. “It’s very hard to describe. Somehow I don’t want to dig too deep yet, but it’s not easy.”
In fact, Gaston also wanted to cheer for his opponent after the home crowd cheered for their hero.
“It was quite a strange feeling when, at the end of the third set, everyone was shouting ‘Gael, Gael’,” Gaston said. “And I wanted to shout with them.”
Monfils finished his Roland Garros career with a 40-18 record. His best result came when he reached the semifinals in 2008 but lost to Roger Federer in four sets.
When asked to pick his best moment or match at the French Open, Monfils said there were many matches, that would stay close to his heart.
“It’s hard to really decide, but some were unbelievable. Even win or lose, I can name some. I really liked one I played with Cuevas, one I play with [David] Ferrer, one I play with Fabio [Fognini], one I play with [Sebastian] Baez. Me, I have two back to back, I really loved, it was against Dick Norman and James Blake. It was amazing,” Monfils said. “I have two amazing ones against Andy [Murray]. My first win on the centre court against Andy was five sets. I lost to him in a quarter-final in five sets. I love them.”
The veteran Frenchman was joined on court by fellow former Top-10 stars Richard Gasquet, Gilles Simon, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
“Even in my craziest dreams, I could never have imagined that it would be like this. It was really exceptional. It was a crazy opportunity,” Monfils said. “We imagine it without really imagining it.
“But between Thursday and this evening, what’s been going on is really engraved in my memory. It’s a tremendous opportunity. I was very lucky. It’s something that will forever be engraved in my heart.”
