The China Mail - Last of the French musketeers Monfils officially retired from tennis

The 40-year-old had signalled his intention to leave the sport at the end of 2026 but received a wildcard for an ATP 250 event in Lyon and was widely expected to make a farewell appearance at the Paris Masters at Bercy at the start of November.

The ITIA, however, confirmed that Monfils has been on their retired players list since October 5, ruling him out of any tournaments for the next six months.

Under the rules of the body responsible for anti-doping in tennis, players on this list must make themselves available for random doping tests for at least six months before they are allowed to return to competition.

The former world No. 6 played his last official match in early September when he lost to Learner Tien in the second round of the US Open.

His first round win over Adolfo Daniel Vallejo at Flushing Meadow made him just the third man aged 40 or over to win a match at the New York slam in the Open era after Ken Rosewall in 1977 and Jimmy Connors in 1992.

He had earlier reached the semi-finals of the mixed doubles with his wife Elina Svitolina.

Although Monfils, winner of 13 ATP titles, had not yet made any public statement on Wednesday morning, his retirement marks the end of an era for French tennis.

After the retirements of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon and Richard Gasquet, "La Monf" is the last of the four "musketeers" of his generation to hang up his racquet.

But unlike his contemporaries, all of whom now hold positions connected to tennis, the current world No. 254 had stated in September his intention to move into the world of finance and become a wealth manager for a Swiss company.

Having turned professional in 2004, the right-hander reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2008 and US Open in 2016, and also made it to three Masters 1000 finals.

A spectacular player admired admired the world, Monfils produced his final tour de force at the start of the 2025 season.

By winning the Auckland tournament at the age of 38, he became the oldest player to win a title on the main tour since 1977, a record since broken by Novak Djokovic.

He went on to reach the round of 16 at the Australian Open, notably defeating world No. 4 Taylor Fritz along the way.

O.Tse--ThChM