Gael Monfils wants to remain true to himself and is not dreaming of grand slam glory at the Australian Open. (More Sports News)
🎉Monfils, who earlier in January became the oldest-ever winner of an ATP Tour trophy, has become one of the standout stories at Melbourne Park.
🌊The 38-year-old booked his place in the last 16 with a 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 victory over fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday.
♐Monfils became the second-oldest man to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open, after Roger Federer, since the event moved to Melbourne Park in 1988.
꧟He has never won a grand slam, with his best finishes coming in runs to the semi-finals of the 2008 French Open and 2016 US Open.
💧But despite his brilliant form in Melbourne, Monfils says it is not his dream to win a major.
🌜"Win? No, you know, to be honest with you, it is not even a dream to win the tournament," he said.
ꦓ"My dream is to be old and with a lot of kids and healthy.
💦"I'll tell you my dream. My dream is to have an unbelievable family. Tennis is cool. Of course, you want to have a goal, dream, whatever. But that is not my dream."
♓Monfils, the oldest player to beat a top-five-ranked opponent at the Australian Open, celebrated his victory with an impromptu dance on the court.
♏When he was asked by Stats Perform if his decision to dance was a result of the freedom he is playing with, Monfils replied: "Yes, I think you're right.
🦩"I felt good. I felt at this moment, I wanted to do that. I want to be myself. I had this in my mind, so I just did what was in my mind. That was my way to express my joy."
ꦡIt was a fantastic day for Monfils and his family, as his wife Elina Svitolina subsequently followed in her husband's footsteps at Margaret Court Arena.
🦋Svitolina, who in the last round became the sixth active player to secure 100 WTA Tour-level match wins, came from a set down to beat fourth seed Jasmine Paolini 2-6 6-4 6-0 and tee up a last-16 tie with Veronika Kudermetova.
🃏It marked only the second time in her career that Svitolina has registered a bagel against an opponent ranked in the top five, after she previously did so against Simona Halep in 2018.
♏"It was a crazy battle, I want to say I got inspired by my husband's win," Svitolina said on court. "But I played so bad the first set, I'm not sure I was inspired!"
๊In her press conference, Svitolina said: "We both were a set down, both against really tough opponents who are not making many mistakes, who know how to win big matches.
𝄹"I'm really proud of myself, of Gael, that we didn't give up, that we believed in our game, believed that we could win."
﷽She also suggested the media are too focused on Monfils' age.
ꦅ"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," she said. "He wants to prove it. He wants to bring the battle."
