Silly question, but when does a player actually stop? I thought it was simple. Gaël Monfils announced in October 2025 that 2026 would be his last season, with the aim of playing until he turned 40, on 1 September 2026. So, 1 September. Easy.
Except that on 1 September, he was playing. At the US Open, he beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 on his 40th birthday. Then he lost in the second round to Learner Tien. It was his 201st and last Grand Slam match. Right, so that’s when.
Wrong again. He has been officially retired since 5 October, the day he asked to be put on the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s list of retired players. I found out there is a list. A list you ask to be on. It ruled him out of Lyon and of one last home tournament in Paris. So it’s 5 October.
And then on 3 November he came back to Court Central at the Rolex Paris Masters to say goodbye. Fifteen minutes, Cédric Pioline, Gilles Moretton, a giant tifo (a fan banner) reading “Merci Gaël”, and Tsonga, Gasquet and Simon, the other three “New Musketeers”. He didn’t play. He had already left. But he came back to leave.
I count: an announcement, a birthday, a last match, a list, a ceremony. Five dates for one departure. Me, I left my kot (student room) in Louvain-la-Neuve in July, handed back the keys, done. Nobody unfurled a tifo.
Where we lived, we said goodbye on the doorstep, then again in the drive, then at the gate. Nobody found it long. Only the postman waited.
He told Tennis Majors: “I gave everything […] I’m really happy, really at peace with everything I was able to do.” At peace, but over five dates. I checked, and actually nobody knows which one counts.
Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
It’s true, we checked: Tennis Majors.
