Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet are back together in Paris on Tuesday night, this time to say goodbye to the fourth member of their generation. Gael Monfils will walk onto court at Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre for La Nuit du Monf, the retirement tribute his home tournament designed after he quit the sport before he could play his final event here.
His career ended in a US Open second-round defeat in late August, and he was placed on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s retired list on October 14. The Rolex Paris Masters wanted its own farewell anyway.
The ceremony will follow the first match of the night session. French singer M. Pokora is set to perform, and tournament director Cedric Pioline and French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton will present Monfils with a commemorative artwork, with Tsonga, Simon and Gasquet joining him on court. Tickets for the session sold out within hours once the tribute was announced.
“I wasn’t going to leave like this”
Monfils said he could not bring himself to disappear without a proper goodbye in front of his home crowd.
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“I wasn’t going to leave like this,” he told TennisActu. “I would like to thank the French tennis family, they all supported me.”
His last season ran into his separation from his wife, Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina. Speaking on a Twitch livestream on October 26, Monfils said the breakup had derailed his training and left him unable to compete at his level.
A career that always came back to Paris
Monfils retired at 40 with 13 ATP titles, a career-high ranking of world No. 6, and Grand Slam semifinal runs at Roland Garros in 2008 and the US Open in 2016. His first trophy came in Sopot in 2005, his last in Auckland in January 2025.
The Paris Masters was his biggest stage. He reached finals in 2009, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets, and in 2010, where Robin Söderling beat him.
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December in Geneva, with Murray
The farewell tour has one more date. Monfils is scheduled to attend Stan Wawrinka’s own retirement tribute in Geneva on December 19, where he has said he will play doubles with Andy Murray.
The night session at Paris La Défense Arena begins at 7pm local time.
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