By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday August 16, 2023
Playing tennis at an elite level at the age of 36? It takes a lot of discipline, says Gael Monfils.
The former World No.6, who is into the second round at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, may be seen as a free-flowing “natural” athlete that just plays by intuition and lets his artistry shine. But he assured reporters on Tuesday, after defeating Cameron Norrie to reach round two at the Western and Southern Open, that discipline is the key contributor that allows him to play elite tennis at his age.
“People sometimes they think it's easy to come back,” Monfils said. “They see me move easy. They see me quite chill and laughing and doing that. As I say, no one knows all the pain that I need to impose my body to get back into shape. All the mental discipline.”
Monfils has continued his resurgence this week in Cincinnati, where he will face Alex de Minaur on Wednesday.
When we watch him sprint around the court like a 26 year old, we should keep in mind that it is not easy to make 36 be the new 26.
“People, they see always the good stuff, always smiling, always the show, always the charisma, the wins, the followers, the nice picture and this,” Monfils said. “They are never there when it's raining, your coach is there screaming at you, that you need to work, all this.
“People, they think we are rabbits. Like, wow, we wake up and we super happy to go run for an hour and do the fitness. Some days is tougher, as for everybody. That's part where we better as athlete because we have this discipline.”