Melbourne says goodbye to Monfils after the Frenchman puts up a show

Frenchman Gael Monfils did not have the luck which had on Monday. Stan Wawrinka had extended his stay at the Australian Open for another match but on Tuesday there was no such luck for the great French showman Monfils. Melbourne bid goodbye to the Frenchman, who is playing his final year on the Tour.

The 39-year-old Frenchman, who made his 20th Melbourne Park appearance, was packed off by Aussie World No.182 Dane Sweeny inside a packed KIA Arena. The 24-year-old qualifier recovered from losing the opening set to fight past the former top 10 star 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 for his first-ever Grand Slam win.

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After a warm embrace between the two, Monfils’ career was celebrated in an on-court ceremony, and afterwards he took the mic to say one last goodbye. “Thank you so much for this amazing ride,” he told the sellout crowd. “A lot of great memories, big battles. I’ve been very lucky to play here for many years.”

There were no goodbyes necessary for Romania’s Sorana Cirstea on Court 13, another player in her final Australian Open. The former World No.21 kept her Melbourne Park career going with a battling three-set win over talented young German Eva Lys.

Sorana Cirstea kept her Melbourne Park career going with a battling three-set win over talented young German Eva Lys. Pic: MSN

Both defending champions, Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys, sailed through without dropping a set at the Rod Laver Arena. Keys hit back from 0-4 and saved two set points before beating Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova 7-6(6), 6-1, while Sinner was on court for just 68 minutes before his French opponent Hugo Gaston suddenly retired with a physical issue with the Italian ahead 6-2, 6-1.

Of the 19 seeds on court, it was two-time champion Naomi Osaka, who easily made the biggest impression when she entered the main show court late in the day. Appearing from the player tunnel wearing a white wide-brimmed hat and carrying a parasol featuring a white transparent veil, the four-time major winner’s Nike and Robert Wun-designed ensemble also included white flared trousers, a jellyfish-inspired tunic and butterflies attached to her hat and parasol.

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Osaka’s opponent, world No.65 Antonia Ruzic from Croatia, made sure the former world No.1 didn’t have the spotlight all to herself by pushing the Japanese star all the way. The 16th seed found the tennis to match her outfit during the key moments to go through 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Fifth seed and 2023 runner-up Elena Rybakina was too strong for Kaja Juvan at Margaret Court Arena during the day session, and the in-form 10th seed Belinda Bencic eased past Britain’s Katie Boulter 6-0, 7-5.

Three seeds fell in the women’s draw as Germany’s Laura Siegemund defeated 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen outplayed former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, and Czechia’s Tereza Valentova was too good for Australian No.1 and 30th seed Maya Joint.

Australian Open 2025 semifinalist Ben Shelton, who survived a horrible first-round draw to get past French fellow leftie Ugo Humbert 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(5). Fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti and ninth seed Taylor Fritz both needed four sets to advance, while it was tougher going for Karen Khachanov and last week’s Auckland champion, Jakub Mensik.

Khachanov was pushed the distance by American Alex Michelsen, while young Czech Mensik continued his strong start to the year by fighting past Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 in the decider. Recently-injured Brazilian star Joao Fonseca fell at the first hurdle when he was beaten by in-form young American Eliot Spizzirri, while Dutch 23rd seed Tallon Griekspoor was another early casualty.

The day saw the conclusion of the singles first round with another 20 matches in each draw played out under a stunning Melbourne sky.