Veteran tennis player Gale Monfils has become the oldest-ever tennis ATP tour single champion at 38. This was the first time since 1972 that a player above the age of 38 won an ATP title. He won the Auckland title by beating Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets. The French man is ranked as the 52nd seed and is the oldest player in the Tennis ATP Top 100 rankings. It was the first time since Pancho Gonzalez won the Jamaica single ATP title in 1972 when he was 44 years, 7 months and 4 days old.
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Oldest ATP Champion
In his 20 years of Tennis career, Monfils clinched his 13th ATP title at the age of 38 years, 132 days. He also took out Tennis Legend Roger Federer who became the Swiss Indoor title, his final Tennis title at 38 years and 74 days in 2019.
New Zealand now has the oldest Tennis ATP champion in the new era. The Auckland finals were delayed when there was a medical emergency in the crowd. Before the start of the game, Monfils said, “I love tennis. I love what I’m doing so of course all the sacrifices you do, they are a little bit easier. When you love something, it's easier to keep pushing."
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"I’ve been enjoying myself since the first day I played tennis and at 60 years old I will still have this joy. Practice, it’s easy. It's in the DNA. Stay in shape, it's easy. It’s more the travel," he further added. He started the game aggressively and claimed his title as he did back in the Stockholm Open Tennis tournament in 2023.
After winning the title he celebrated with joy and headed straight to the airport to compete in the Australian Open where he will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round. Let’s see if he wins the Australian Open Grand Slam title and becomes the oldest-ever Grand Slam winner in Tennis.
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