Gael Monfils suffered a record-breaking 19th match in a row against Novak Djokovic in their Round of 16 match at the Cincinnati Masters but cherished his post-match encounter with the Serb.
Djokovic broke a tie with Rafael Nadal and now owns the best undefeated head-to-head streak in ATP history after beating Monfils for the 19th time without reply. But there was no love lost between the two veterans who shared a post-match friendly banter in the locker room.
Monfils instantly shook off his latest defeat and revealed what the encounter was all about. He requested Djokovic's autograph on his tennis gear as a souvenir and shared a sneak peek of his match t-shirt which was signed by Djokovic, who joked about being pitiless during the match, inscribing the words: #19, 17.08.23. Sorry not sorry.
Monfils later took to X to share the hilarious but classy moment, calling Djokovic the greatest player of all time. Despite suffering the quickest defeat in their head-to-head, Monfils was already looking forward to his next stop: the US Open.
"It may not have been the match I was hoping for against the GOAT, but it's still an honor and a pleasure to face Novak Djokovic. Despite everything, it remains a positive week. I'm going to rest to be on top at the US Open. Thank you so much for your incredible support."
It has certainly been a positive month for Monfils who turns 37 at the start of September. The Frenchman was outside the world's Top 300 at the beginning of the summer hard-court swing. By virtue of winning seven hard-court matches, he has truncated that ranking by nearly half, and will be in the Top 200 when the new rankings are released next week.
Monfils will cash in on a protected ranking of No. 35 for this year's US Open which begins on September 28th.
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