Gaël Monfils began what is being billed as the last Roland-Garros of his career on Monday night and quickly found himself in trouble, trailing Hugo Gaston 4-1 after a slow start in the night session on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Monfils had landed only 36% of his first serves at that point, a shaky opening in front of a home crowd that came to see one of France’s most enduring showmen make another Paris appearance.
The match was still in its early stages, but the tone was set. Gaston used the opening to press forward while Monfils searched for rhythm, and the scoreboard reflected how quickly the momentum had slipped away. For Monfils, the night carried extra weight because it was not just another first-round match at Roland-Garros. It was the start of the tournament he has said will be his last at the event.
Monday’s first round brought a string of other results across the grounds. Arthur Rinderknech beat Jurij Rodionov 7-6, 6-2, 6-3, while Luca Van Assche outlasted Vilius Gaubas in nearly four hours, 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. Ugo Humbert defeated Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, and Térence Atmane lost a five-set fight to Thanasi Kokkinakis, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7. Léolia Jeanjean fell to Kaitlin Quevedo 6-7, 6-7, and Sarah Rakotomanga was beaten by Amanda Anisimova 3-6, 1-6.
The draw also began to take shape beyond Monfils and Gaston. The winner of their match was scheduled to meet the winner of Francisco Cerundolo and Botic Van De Zandschulp, where Cerundolo led two sets to one at 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 1-1 after missing a match point in the third set. That placed the Frenchman and Gaston’s result directly into the path of a second-round meeting with another seeded threat in waiting.
There was no shortage of friction elsewhere on Monday. One Norwegian player recovered from two sets down to beat Roman Safiullin in nearly four hours, saving five match points in the third set before finally closing it out. He will face Hamad Medjedovic after two days of rest. In another long battle, a Russian player turned the match against Casper Ruud after trailing 5-2 in the third set, then took the fourth set 6-0 as Ruud used the trainer and appeared physically diminished.
That mix of stamina, damage and late surges is what has already defined the opening day of Roland-Garros. For Monfils, the story is sharper than the rest: the crowd is not only watching a match, but measuring the start of a farewell. If he is to extend that run, he will have to do it by solving Gaston quickly, because the match had already shown how little room there is for hesitation on the Paris clay.
