Monfils targets playing into his 40s

Into his 40s is now Gael Monfils's stated target: after his French Open exit, he said he wants to emulate Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James and keep going through Wimbledon, Montreal, the U.S. Open and the Paris Masters rediff.com. That lands as more than a sentimental line because this was Monfils's 70th Grand Slam main-draw appearance and his 19th French Open, and the BBC notes he already owns the Open-era record for most Slam match wins by a male French player bbc.com. The clean read is that he is trying to extend a career that still carries real weight on the biggest stages, even if the near-term test is straightforward: can his body and results hold through the next run of majors and big summer events? The caution is obvious too. Recent months have shown how difficult it is to keep competing at the highest level at his age, even with Monfils still in strong physical shape and coming off a decent Australian Open run theguardian.com. If he does make those stops, this shifts from farewell talk to a credible late-career extension; if he cannot, Roland Garros may start to look like the opening of a final stretch.