Gael Monfils defied the odds and his age to reach the Australian Open fourth round with a 3-6 7-5 7-6 6-4 win over fourth seed, Taylor Fritz of the United States.
Monfils becomes the second oldest player since 1988 to reach this stage of the Grand Slam at age 38, with Roger Federer achieving the feat in 2020 on his way to a semi-final finish in Melbourne five years ago.
He will now face Ben Shelton for a place in the quarter-final and he goes into that with the belief he can still do damage. “I have a strong belief I can still do some damage,” Monfils said. “He started strong but I felt I could move great today.”
Elsewhere, another upset was recorded at the Grand Slam as teenage sensation, Learner Tien, pulled off a 7-6 6-3 6-3 win over Corentin Moutet to reach the fourth round.
The result follows Tien’s surprise win over Daniil Medvedev in the second round, and has now become the youngest player to reach the fourth round since Rafael Nadal did so in 2005.
“This has exceeded my expectations, what I was hoping for coming into this week,” Tien said afterwards. “You go into every match believing you can win, but to be in the second week is amazing.”