Gael Monfils' long career is set to end at the end of next year, as he himself announced a short time ago through a video that also involved former French aces such as Gilles Simon, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet.
Although he has not won 'big titles', 'La Monf' undoubtedly represents one of the best players of his generation for his ability to generate spectacle on the court and for his innate charisma that has made him loved in every corner of the planet. He had to play in the same era as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who monopolized the men's tour for about two decades preventing their opponents from winning as much as they deserved.
Gael has always considered tennis fun and has never bothered him to travel around the planet, as well as having found happiness off the court thanks to his colleague Elina Svitolina (who became his wife). The former world number 6 will certainly give many emotions to fans next year, especially at Roland Garros and the Paris Masters 1000, where a royal welcome and tributes worthy of his greatness await him.
Monfils wants to have more fun
In a long interview with 'We Love Tennis Magazine', Jean-René Lisnard reflected on Monfils' legacy: "Everyone knows that when Gael plays, anything can happen on the court, because he has an ability to create spectacle that has few equals in the history of tennis. Perhaps there is no equivalent today, with the exception of Carlos Alcaraz, who plays a different tennis from all the others by transmitting unique emotions."
He also added: "Gael has always been a sincere and spontaneous guy, who doesn't need to be fake to please people. We have lost charismatic players in recent years and it is a real shame. The men's tour has become too robotic compared to the 90s and 2000s, there are no more guys to show their personality."
Injuries are one of the factors that convinced the French veteran to make this painful decision.
