Gael Monfils confirms how he feels about Ben Shelton after retiring against him at the Australian Open

Gael Monfils has seen his eight-match winning streak come to an end after retiring from his fourth round at the Australian Open against Ben Shelton.

Monfils was in good form after winning the Auckland title, but the Frenchman faced a tough draw coming into the Australian Open.

The world number 41 was able to rise to the occasion, with Monfils against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in a near four hour first round match.

He was able to back this up in the third round, as Monfils beat fourth seed Taylor Fritz in his first top five win at a Grand Slam tournament since 2008.

However, all of this matchplay appears to have taken its toll on the 38-year-old after he retired in the fourth round.

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Gael Monfils confirms how he feels about Ben Shelton

Shelton is 16 years Monfils‘ junior, with the pair embracing each other at the net after the match was called to a premature end in the fourth set.

In his post-match press conference, Monfils was asked what he thought about Shelton after even hugging his former tennis player father Bryan Shelton.

“I love Ben. I love him. You know, this kid is amazing,” said Monfils. “He’s full of energy. He’s a great guy, great kid.

“Of course, it’s always too bad to play someone that you love, but we put the fighting spirit, you know. That’s why I still want to make it tough for him, but at the end, of course, now I’m rooting for him. He’s a guy that I really appreciate spend time with him, talking with him, sharing anything. We laugh. He’s just an amazing kid.”

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With Monfils now rooting for the player that beat him, Shelton will look to reach the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in his career when he plays Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday January 22.

Gael Monfils explains what it was like to play Ben Shelton for the first time

Despite their strong relationship, this was the first time that Monfils had played a competitive match against Shelton.

Shelton has admitted it’s hard to find a practice partner, but Monfils explained that he was familiar with the American’s game after playing away from the matchcourt with him.

“The thing is we practice with most of the players, so you have a feeling. It’s not like I don’t know Ben. So I’ve been playing with him,” continued Monfils. “Matches is always different, but you just have to feel, let’s say in matches you have feel that where he try to impose you in the nervous moment, where we’ll go, and of course, you had it to your book. You just take note, add it to the book.

“Okay, that’s a bit different to then in practice. Hmm, I see you done that, Ben. No matter what, we play long time. So my book will be at a new page with Ben Shelton.”

Although he is no longer in the Australian Open, Monfils still has a reason to be at Melbourne Park with his wife Elina Svitolina reaching the quarter-finals after beating Elena Rybakina.

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