At 38, Gael Monfis turns into the oldest winner of an ATP title by beating Zizou Bergs in New Zealand.
French veteran Gael Monfils has turn out to be the oldest participant to win an ATP Tour title after beating Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in Auckland.
Monfils claimed his thirteenth tour title 20 years after his first and on the age of 38 years, 132 days. He took over from Roger Federer, who was 38 years, 74 days outdated when he received the ultimate tour title of his profession, the Swiss Indoor title at Basel in 2019.
Monfils is at present ranked 52 and is the oldest participant within the ATP Tour’s historical past to be ranked within the prime 100.
Pancho Gonzalez was 44 years, 7 months and 4 days outdated when he received a Kingston, Jamaica singles title in 1972, earlier than the formation of the ATP Tour in 1990.
The Auckland remaining was delayed on Saturday by a medical emergency within the crowd, however Monfils confirmed the identical combination of aggression and tenacious defence to assert his first title for the reason that Stockholm Open in 2023.
Previous to the beginning of the Auckland event, Monfils spoke about how his love of tennis stored him going.
“I like tennis. I like what I’m doing so, after all, all of the sacrifices you do, they’re slightly bit simpler. Whenever you love one thing, it’s simpler to maintain pushing,” he mentioned.
“I’ve been having fun with myself for the reason that first day I performed tennis and [at] 60 years outdated I’ll nonetheless have this pleasure. Apply, it’s simple. It’s within the DNA. Keep in form, it’s simple. It’s extra the journey.”
After accumulating the Auckland trophy, Monfils headed straight to the airport for a flight to Melbourne the place he’ll face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard within the first spherical of the Australian Open.
