Gael Monfils Smashes Age Barriers at Miami Open
Seeing a thirty-eight-year-old sprint around a tennis court, still outlasting much younger opponents, isn’t something you expect to witness at an ATP Masters 1000 event. But that’s exactly what Gael Monfils did at the 2025 Miami Open, turning heads and making tennis history along the way. With his first-round win over Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan—6-3, 3-6, 6-4—Monfils became the second-oldest man ever to score a match win at this level, a mark that only American legend Jimmy Connors has topped when he triumphed in Miami at age thirty-nine back in 1992.
Monfils's performance was more than just about age. He played sharp, aggressive tennis, tallying 38 winners to just 18 unforced errors. Right from the start, he made life difficult for Marozsan, pushing him side to side and landing heavy, deep shots that kept his younger opponent guessing. Afterward, Monfils was candid: he mixed up his angles, ran relentlessly, and tweaked his tactics to stop Marozsan from finding any comfort on the court.
Fighting On: Oldest to Make Miami Fourth Round
What’s even more wild? Monfils wasn’t finished. He kept cruising along the draw and reached the fourth round in Miami, now standing as the oldest man to get that far in tournament history. For context, this was Monfils’s 13th time at Miami, but this deep run at age 38 was special—even in a career that’s stretched across multiple decades.
The third round saw Monfils matched up against Spain’s Jaume Munar, and this one was a marathon. Munar was right on the edge, serving for the match at 6-5 in the final set. But Monfils showed why experience counts, snatching 11 of the last 12 points and closing it out in a tie-break. This wasn’t just another win; it made Monfils the second-oldest man ever to reach the last sixteen of any ATP Masters 1000 tournament since the series began in 1990. When the body starts to fade but the mind stays sharp, tennis shows a different kind of magic.
Monfils’s achievement had fans and fellow pros buzzing. So often, tennis careers wind down quietly, but here’s Monfils—still ranked No. 46—turning back the clock on one of the sport’s biggest stages, showing the next generation that fight and flair don't belong to youth alone.
Elsewhere in Miami, the tournament wrapped up with a shock. Czech teenager Jakub Menšík, only ranked No. 54, upset Novak Djokovic in two tie-breaks to grab his first-ever ATP Tour title and become the lowest-ranked champion at the Miami Open to date. The defending champion, Jannik Sinner, was nowhere in sight after being suspended for three months following a positive steroid test.
The 2025 Miami Open proved the old guard still has tricks up its sleeve—and that there’s always space for surprises, whether you’re 18 or pushing 40.
