Gael Monfils joined Roger Federer as the only men to reach the Australian Open’s last 16 at age 38 or older since the tournament field expanded to 128 players in 1988, coming back to beat No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 yesterday.
After punctuating his victory with a 215 kph ace — his 24th of the afternoon, doubling Fritz’s total — Monfils did a celebratory dance at the baseline, while thousands of fans at Margaret Court Arena roared, many waving red-white-and-blue French flags.
“It was really tough to hurt him. He just got back everything,” Fritz said. “I felt like I wasn’t even hitting ... It seemed almost too easy for him to hurt me, for how much I was struggling to hurt him. He played really, really well. Not too much I could do.”
Photo: Reuters
Monfils started his season with a title at a hard-court event in Auckland, New Zealand, which made him the oldest man to win a tournament since at least 1990.
“Just fortunate, but every day is different. We work hard. I try to be very disciplined with the recovery. I am a strong believer [in] myself. Strong belief I can do some damage,” said Monfils, who has never been past the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, but did reach two major semi-finals, most recently at the 2016 US Open. “With a little luck, here we are in the second week of the Australian Open.”
Monfils is to take on a much younger opponent, 22-year-old Ben Shelton, the 21st-seeded American who eliminated No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).
Photo: REUTERS
Elsewhere, Iga Swiatek demolished Emma Raducanu to sweep into the last 16 in a one-sided battle of former US Open champions. Swiatek romped to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph in a statement victory as she pursues a first Melbourne crown.
“I felt like the ball is listening to me,” Swiatek said after rattling off 11 straight games in a brutal display against the UK’s Raducanu on Rod Laver Arena.
The 23-year-old Swiatek is a five-time major winner, but she has never gone beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
Photo: Reuters
Emma Navarro, the eighth seed from the US, joined the Pole in the second week of the first Grand Slam of the year with a gritty three-set win over Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Navarro credited her billionaire father, Sherman Financial Group founder Ben Navarro, for teaching her “toughness” as she clawed through 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against three-time Slam finalist Jabeur.
She recalled how her father would take her and her siblings on six-hour bike rides when they were kids.
“We made up a term — biking and crying,” Navarro, 23, said. “I learned a lot of toughness growing up. A lot of thanks goes to him.”
Sixth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan also advanced despite a back problem. The former Wimbledon champion needed a medical timeout to treat a back spasm before winning 6-3, 6-4 against Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
She faces world No. 128 Eva Lys of Germany next.
Lys beat Jaqueline Cristian of Romania in three sets to become the first women’s singles “lucky loser” to reach the fourth round since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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