Gael Monfils claims 500th win: Decoding his career stats
Gael Monfils, on Wednesday, secured his 500th tour-level victory after defeating Alex de Minaur at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. The 34-year-old, claiming a 6-3, 7-5 win, became only the second Frenchman to reach the milestone. Monfils is only the 11th active player to win 500 or more tour-level matches. Here, we take a look at his career stats.
Monfils yet to win a Grand Slam honor
Monfils now has a win-loss record of 500-289. He is 112-56 at Grand Slams. Despite playing for over a decade, Monfils is devoid of a Grand Slam title. He has reached the semi-finals stage twice (2016 US Open and 2008 French Open). Monfils has also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (2016). However, he is yet to go past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Second Frenchman after Richard Gasquet with 500 wins
On Wednesday, Monfils became only the second Frenchman after Richard Gasquet to win 500 tour-level matches. The latter has most victories by a Frenchman in the Open Era (560). However, he lost more matches (341) than Monfils. Gilles Simon (494), Yannick Noah (478), and Fabrice Santoro (470) follow Monfils on the list of Frenchmen with tour-level wins (Open Era).
11th active player to achieve this milestone
Monfils is the 11th active player to touch the 500-win mark. He is only behind Roger Federer (1,251), Rafael Nadal (1,028), Novak Djokovic (972), Andy Murray (681), Gasquet (560), Fernando Verdasco (554), Marin Cilic (538), Tommy Robredo (533), Stan Wawrinka (533), and Feliciano Lopez (501).
Three major junior titles
Monfils played his first junior match in January 2002 at the age of 15, in Sweden. In 2004, he won the boys' singles titles at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon respectively. The Frenchman finished as the world number one among junior players, having won the first three majors of the year. Monfils has a win-loss record of 83-22 as a junior.
Notable feats of Monfils
Monfils achieved a career-high ranking of number six after racking up 44 wins in 2016. He has captured 10 ATP Tour titles, including ATP 500s at 2016 Washington and Rotterdam (2019 and 2020 each). Monfils reached at least one final in 16 straight seasons (2005-2020). His notable titles during the period include ATP Masters 1000s in Paris (2009 and 2010) and Monte Carlo (2016).
Monfils is 7-11 in the ongoing season
Monfils is 7-11 in the ongoing season. He overcame Dusan Lajovic and Alex de Minaur to reach the third round at Cincinnati. Prior to that, Monfils lost the quarter-finals in Toronto (ATP Masters 1000 Canada) to John Isner.
