‘It’s a helluva long ride’: Monfils bids adieu to Grand Slams after US Open loss

New York: French veteran Gael Monfils thanked the fans at the Louis Armstrong Stadium as he bid adieu to the Grand Slams following his defeat in the second round of the US Open 2026 to Learner Tien.

Monfils, who is set to retire at the end of this season, lost in the second round to the American 20-year-old Learner Tien 3-6, 4-6, 3-6. While Tien enjoyed the home support, the crowd rallied behind his opponent, Monfils, with chants of “Mon-fils! Mon-fils!” throughout the match as he wrapped up his Major career.

“I want to thank you all,” Monfils said while addressing the crowd, as quoted by the ATP Tour. “It has been a long ride. I came here in 2003 for the juniors for the first time, and here I am in 2026, so it’s a helluva long ride. I felt all the love, and I can tell you that you guys are my second-best crowd, of course after Paris, but you are up there, so thank you so much.”

The 40-year-old finished his professional career at the US Open with a 33-17 record. His first match was a Round 1 five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in 2005. His best result was a semifinal run in 2016, once again losing to Djokovic. The Frenchman tallied a 34-18 match record across 18 main-draw appearances at the season’s final major.

The Paris native tied his career-best Slam result in New York in 2016, when he reached the semi-finals. That same year, Monfils reached a career-high No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The 13-time ATP Tour titlist first reached the semi-finals of a major in 2008 at his home Slam, Roland Garros.

Monfils, who celebrated his 40th birthday during his first-round win at Flushing Meadows, was honoured with an on-court ceremony, during which he was also presented with a special framed picture by the USTA CEO Craig Tiley and US Open tournament director Eric Butorac.

“It’s been an absolute honour for me to play all these years in front of you,” said Monfils, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday, the same day he won his first-round match. “I tried my best and tried to perform high-performance tennis, but also give you a great show. You guys give me great love; I will never forget that.”

Monfils had previously lost to Tien in the Montreal round of 64. Tien considers Monfils his childhood idol. “I told him when we played in Montreal that I hope we get to play one more time,” Tien said. “And I know that we didn’t have that many opportunities left, so I’m super happy it happened here. Sorry for drop shotting you so much tonight,” the 14th seed added.

Monfils made his US Open debut in 2005 and famously reached the semifinals in 2016, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. He has another semifinal appearance at the Majors, having been in the last four in the 2008 French Open, falling to Roger Federer in the semis.

Monfils ends his career as the most prolific French male player in Grand Slams in the Open era, having won 131 main-draw matches at the Majors. He also has a twin quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open and a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon.

IANS