Monfils dominates Bergs to win Auckland tournament

Excellent news for French tennis just before the Australian Open. Entering the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, Gaël Monfils was full of confidence ahead of the first Grand Slam of the season.

The 38-year-old won the 13th title of his career on the ATP circuit in New Zealand.

Solid throughout, Monfils rounded off his week in style. Against Zizou Bergs, who was playing in the first final of his career, the Frenchman won in two sets (6-3, 6-4). It was his first title since Stockholm in 2023.

On Monday, the title will take him up to 41st place. As for Bergs, he will be 60th in the next few hours, his career-high ranking.

With this success, Gaël Monfils became the oldest player to win an ATP trophy since Ken Rosewall, who was 43 when he won in Tokyo in 1977.

Trailing 6-1, 5-2 in his opening match against Pedro Martinez, Monfils turned the tables (1-6, 7-6, 6-3), before successively overcoming Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 7-6), Facundo Diaz Acosta (6-3, 6-1) and Nishesh Basavareddy (7-6, 6-4) to reach the final.

After two weeks of competition, Gaël Monfils is already the second French player to win a 2025 title, after Alexandre Muller last week in Hong Kong.

Monfils now turns his attention to the Australian Open, where he will face compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in his Melbourne debut.