Mumbai: Gael Monfils’s final answer before walking off Margaret Court Arena carried a hint of prophecy to it. “I think I’ve warmed up the court for her.”
It stayed warm enough for his wife Elina Svitolina to walk in under lights and sizzle while knocking out fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6, 6-4, 6-0. This, after a red-hot Monfils had lit up the court with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 6-4 upset victory over fourth seed Taylor Fritz.
The two accounting for the biggest upsets on paper in their respective draws to storm into the Australian Open fourth round, back-to-back on the second most prestigious court at Melbourne Park, rallying from a set down — Saturday couple dates seldom get any better. The Frenchman flaunted some dance moves the moment he won the match point before leaving the stage for his wife to follow the lead.
“I want to say I got inspired after my husband’s win,” Svitolina said.
Her husband has been doing some inspired things at 38. He’s the oldest player to defeat a top five opponent at the Australian Open since the rankings were introduced in 1973, according to OptaAce. He’s only the second man to make the last 16 of a Grand Slam at age 38 or older since 1988 (in the company of Roger Federer in 2020). From the 2005 Australian Open when a teenaged Monfils made his Slam main draw debut, only one other men’s singles player is still around two decades on: 10-time champion Novak Djokovic. Former American pro Mardy Fish recalled playing Monfils in the fourth round of the US Open back in 2008. As he wrote on X, “Dude is still doin it.”
And quite alright too. His fourth-round entry is his best Slam performance since making the 2022 US Open quarter-finals, among the eight in Slams he’s been part of across his more than two-decade long pro career. He’s unbeaten in eight straight matches now, having captured the lead-up Auckland title as the oldest man to win an ATP trophy since Ken Rosewall in 1977 that also put him back into the top 50.
At an age when most pros ponder over their future, this late bloomer is having a ball at present. When Monfils does Monfils things on court, it usually makes it to the highlight reels. But when the flashy player also backs it up with some finesse, he can be a pretty handful opponent to deal with. As Fritz, last year’s US Open finalist, found out on Saturday. Monfils broke down the tall American’s game systematically after the first set, moving him side to side while painting the lines. And once he was able to penetrate the Fritz serve — he was broken for the first time in this tournament while serving to take the second set to a tiebreaker — Monfils was good enough to take care of things from his first strike.
“I feel like with you guys all the time mentioning his age, he feels that he still has a lot of energy in his tank,” Svitolina said. “He wants to prove it. He wants to bring the battle.”
The 30-year-old is continuing to battle hard on court herself. Like Monfils, Svitolina has had a bright second wind to her pro career that began in 2011. Returning to the tour in 2023 after becoming a mother, the Ukrainian reached her first Slam semi-final (Wimbledon) since 2019 and made two other quarter-finals. The former world No.3 from 2017 has steadily risen in the rankings again over the last year (currently No.27).
Her ranking can be a bit deceptive, though, for she can beat anyone on her day. Italian Paolini, among last season’s standout players as the French Open and Wimbledon finalist, had no answers once Svitolina shook off her slow start and got going. Svitolina wrapped up the win with a bagel, watched on courtside by Monfils.
“Most of the big tournaments, we have each other by our sides,” Svitolina said.
On Saturday, one after the other, they made their day as individual players and a couple.
