Magic Monfils sends Fritz packing from Australian Open





MELBOURNE :French flair topped American firepower as Gael Monfils turned back the clock to dump fourth seed Taylor Fritz out of the Australian Open on Saturday and celebrate his place in the last 16 with a dance on court.
At 38, Monfils is enjoying a late career flourish and Fritz felt the full brunt of it on Margaret Court Arena as the flamboyant Frenchman rallied from a set down to claim a thrilling 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) 6-4 win in the afternoon sunshine.
Soaking up punishment from Fritz with unyielding defence, Monfils dismantled the brawny American with a crafty game plan and danced a jig after sealing victory with an ace down the "T".
"I felt good. I felt that this moment I wanted to do that," Monfils said of his celebration.
"I want to be myself... That was my way to express my joy."
The win made Monfils the second oldest man to reach the fourth round since 1988 when the tournament started having full, 128-player draws. Only Roger Federer, in 2020, was older.
Monfils, who now shares the record for the most singles wins (37) by a Frenchman at Melbourne Park with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will face another American in 21st seed Ben Shelton in his bid for a third quarter-final at Melbourne Park.
It has been a magic start to the season for Monfils.
He rides an eight-match winning streak after clinching the Auckland Classic title in the lead-up, making him the oldest ATP title-winner ever.
"I think I'm the best athlete at 38 years old on the tour, yes," he said with a smile.
"I felt like I could move great today and the game plan was to hold my best line and definitely change the tempo.
"I think I've done the job."
Fritz, the U.S. Open runner-up, bows out with a reality check after making the quarter-finals in Melbourne last year.
The powerful American may look back at the match as a missed opportunity against the oldest player left in the draw.
In reality, though, he was outplayed after the first set as Monfils cut the errors to a minimum and constantly varied the pace of his shots.
The third-set tiebreak was a nightmare for the Californian as Monfils charged to a 6-0 lead in a blaze of winners before closing it out with a big forehand down the line.
"It sucks to go out in the third round," said Fritz, 11 years Monfils's junior. "The way it happened, I'm probably not going to lose too much sleep over it, as someone who is like hypercritical of themselves normally.
"It seemed almost too easy for him to hurt me for how much I was struggling to hurt him."
Monfils's victory was sweetened later in the day when his wife Elina Svitolina knocked out Jasmine Paolini - the women's fourth seed - on the same Margaret Court Arena.
"I think I warmed up the court for her," Monfils joked before the 28th-seeded Ukrainian beat the Wimbledon and French Open runner-up in three sets.
As to his ambitions for the second week, Monfils dismissed a reporter's suggestion that it would be his "dream" to win the title.
"My dream is to be old and with a lot of kids and healthy," he said.