Gaël Monfils starts his farewell tour

Gaël Monfils announced his retirement a year from now in a touching statement on his X account. "I've come close to winning a Grand Slam a few times - and I don't think I'll win another Grand Slam tournament next year. 'You could have done it! You should have done it! Anyone who knows me better can confirm that I never thought like that. Life is too short to mourn things. Believe me when I say: I have no regrets!"

The fact that Monfils didn't win a major title also has to do with the fact that he played "in the golden era of tennis" with Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray, which he sees as a "stroke of luck". "Even defeats can feel epic when you're up against a legend (although I have to say that the occasional wins were also pretty euphoric)."

The Parisian rose to 6th place in the world rankings nine years ago. He celebrated 13 tournament victories, the last one so far this year in Auckland. Gaël Sébastien Monfils is married to the top player and former world number 3 Yelina Svitolina from Ukraine.

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