“It seemed effortless — but it wasn’t”: Gael Monfils reveals truth behind his athletic brilliance

Gael Monfils’ appearance at the 2026 Mexican Open in Acapulco marked another chapter in his final ATP season. The 38-year-old Frenchman, competing in his farewell campaign, secured a first-round victory before exiting in the Round of 16, a result that reflected both resilience and realism. While rankings are no longer the defining metric, his presence at ATP 500 level events continues to underline a career built on durability.

Acapulco represented his first return to the Mexican Open since 2009, adding symbolic weight to his participation. For Monfils, however, the focus is not nostalgia. Instead, his reflections centre on how his career has been interpreted — particularly the perception that his style relied more on flair than foundation.

“I think I was very lucky to be gifted,” Monfils said in an interview with Silver State Sports & Entertainment Network. The acknowledgement is immediate, but so is the clarification. Natural coordination, he insists, was only part of the equation.

Throughout his career, Monfils’ sliding defence and improvisational shot-making defined his image. Yet as he closes his final ATP season, he is keen to stress that artistry was supported by discipline rather than instinct alone.

Monfils expanded on the gap between perception and preparation, drawing a comparison that has followed him throughout his career. “I think I was very lucky to be gifted. I was very lucky to be gifted that I could use my physical ability and with coordination do some maybe different movements. But I always say, like sleight of hand, it looks easy but it’s a lot of hard work behind.”

The analogy to sleight of hand reflects his broader philosophy. What appears spontaneous — sliding into defensive positions or improvising mid-rally — is the product of conditioning and rehearsal. That foundation allowed him to remain competitive well into his late thirties.

“The easier it looks means you’ve been working extremely hard,” the former world No. 6 added. “And I was really happy because a lot of people told me it seemed like it was effortless for me. But I can tell you it was a lot of hard work.”

Monfils’ career timeline inevitably intersects with the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. The Frenchman was asked to compare his matchups against each member of the Big Three, against whom he holds particularly negative records: 0-20 against Djokovic, 2-14 against Nadal and 4-10 against Federer.

“Of course for me number one is Novak Djokovic. I never beat him. And so far maybe this year, maybe this year last chance if I have to face him,” Monfils said. “But for me Novak has this capability to actually answer all my questions. Because tennis is a lot of questions you ask, you answer, you ask, you answer. And he was just too good. And of course he’s a legend of our sport. So no shame of that.”

The framing of tennis as a sequence of questions and answers reveals how Monfils interpreted elite competition. Against Djokovic, he felt the tactical dialogue consistently resolved in the Serbian’s favour.

His perspective on Nadal highlights the Spaniard as the best physically. “Definitely Rafa, same in a way that I could beat him. But the thing is he beat me way more than I beat him. I think I only beat him twice,” mentioned the Frenchman. “But he was extremely hard to play against with his physical… he was imposing on you a really rough and physical match. His capability of moving the ball extremely different because he was lefty. So he was just different as well. So another big legend.”

Federer, by contrast, represented anticipation and economy. “He was just quicker than quicker. Quicker thinker, quicker player. He was everything that you maybe think that you want to do against him, he knew it sometime before you. And then he could let you in a very bad situation.”

“He was unreal how he could escape as well from awkward situations for himself. How his finesse, his flair of tennis was completely different. And somehow those three guys, three of our biggest legends of our sport, were just beautiful to play against, beautiful to learn from, and also extremely fun for me to play against.”

Beyond the technical discussion of rivals and style, Monfils consistently returns to mindset as the central explanation for his longevity. A former junior world No. 1 and ITF World Champion, he transitioned successfully to the professional circuit without the early burnout that affected many top juniors.

His semifinal appearances at Roland Garros in 2008 and the US Open in 2016 reflected sustained competitiveness rather than brief momentum. “For myself I can just talk about myself and my feeling,” Monfils said. “But as I told you, number one priority for me I think is I love the game. I’m a big competitor. I love the competition. I love to push myself.”

That emphasis on competition over outcome helps explain his two-decade durability. Monfils did not define his career solely by titles. Instead, he framed progress as participation at the highest level, regardless of era. “I really like all type of competition. So being on the top was always something that I will look ahead to try to achieve. And that helped me.”

His perspective toward scale also shaped his resilience. Monfils entered the tour during a period of expanding global audiences and stadium tennis. Rather than feeling burdened by that environment, he viewed it as a privilege. “I felt like also because I was seeing tennis a little bit different. I had a lot of fun. Being able to play on big stadium at the beginning for me was already big.”

He expanded on that shift in perspective, linking early experiences to long-term durability. “I always say that I was already blessed playing in front of 100 people, 200, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000. I saw straight away that wow, this is not normal. And then I needed to enjoy myself.”

That framing reduced emotional volatility across wins and losses. On a tour where only one player wins each week, defeat is structural rather than exceptional. “Of course you want to win, but sometimes it can go wrong. And it’s not sometimes, it’s all the time. Every week pretty much you’re losing. And losing doesn’t mean that you’re not good, but that’s our sport.”

“I felt like sometimes you have tough losses, but it was okay because next day you had the chance to go back on the tennis court, practise again, and here we go next week you have again a chance to be the best.”