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Monfils' late night miracle

French 38-year-old recovers from two sets down for his 40th Roland-Garros victory

Gael Monfils, Roland-Garros 2025, first round©Julien Crosnier / FFT
 - Victoria Chiesa

Gael Monfils bt Hugo Dellien 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-1

When a hustling Gael Monfils raced to chase a forehand, tripped and collided with the side wall of Court Philippe-Chatrier in the first game of his first round match against Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien on Tuesday night, it looked for more than a moment as if the crowd would have to say a sad farewell to the French favourite in 2025 after just five points played.

But even a wounded Monfils wasn’t about to let them leave without a show — and, boy, did he give them one.

For just the third time in his long career, the 38-year-old came from two-sets-to-love down to win — and for the first time at Roland Garros — thrilling the home crowd in a match that ended past midnight 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-1.

In a three-hour, 34-minute thriller that was strangely reminiscent of Monfils’ five-set triumph over Sebastian Baez in Paris two years ago, the right-hander completed a comeback by winning three consecutive sets for the first time in a decade, having last done it to beat fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the first round of the Australian Open in 2015.

How it happened

As Monfils worked out whatever pain he felt in his body from that fall, Dellien wasn’t in the mood to show mercy. The 90th-ranked player in the world moved the ball around the clay court expertly as Monfils racked up misses.

The 31-year-old quickly moved one set away from his first Grand Slam main-draw win since Roland-Garros in 2019, wrapping up sets one and two in roughly 90 minutes.

At that point, the question naturally came: How much would Monfils have left to give?

As it turned out, the answer was plenty. His last three sets were fairly routine — outside of a blip in the fourth in which his 5-3 lead turned into a 6-5 deficit.

And after Dellien moved ahead an early mini-break in the fourth set tiebreak, it was his turn to tighten up. He lost six of the last eight points in the shootout to send the match the distance.

‘La Monf’ magic

Monfils’ escape was a milestone win for several reasons. It was his 40th Roland Garros victory, tying him with Yannick Noah for most wins at the event among Frenchmen in the Open era.

Twelve of those successes have come in five sets — an Open era record, too. He had previously been tied with Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka in that category.

Draper duel awaits

Monfils will now, naturally, turn his attention to recovering physically, and mentally, after his latest match of attrition. His fight earns him a shot at No.5 seed Jack Draper in the second round on Thursday.

What Gael said

“Every time I play Roland-Garros it's magical,” Monfils told the crowd afterwards.

“I had a run-in with the [courtside signage], I had a little scare, and it took me a while to come back because of the pressure.

“I want to play well for myself, but also for you, because it's an honour and a privilege to play in a night session.

"The energy was high and I knew the moment the Marseillaise rang out that it had turned. It's moments like that, when I know I've gained the momentum and then, with this communion with you, I know it's won.

“Now we're going to try to recover well because it's going to be another big battle [against Draper]."