American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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American Star Pegula Pulls Out of French Open

Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Jessica Pegula will miss the French Open but 'will definitely be back for a full grass season'. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

World number five Jessica Pegula announced her withdrawal from the French Open on Thursday, saying she had not yet sufficiently recovered from an injury.
"Unfortunately pulling out of @rolandgarros this year," the American posted on Instagram.
"I'm just about back to practicing normal (haven't had any issues for weeks) but played it super safe with recovery & return to play.
"If I had another 5-7 days I would have been there 100%."
Pegula, 30, has not played an official match since the Billie Jean King Cup in mid-April, said AFP.
She then withdrew from the Madrid Open after "hurting herself", without giving any further details on the nature of her injury.
She also missed the Rome Open, the last big clay-court tournament prior to Roland Garros.
Pegula, however, is confident she will soon return to competition.
"I will definitely be back for a full grass season and the rest of the summer and grinding out the rest of the year," she posted.
Last year, Pegula, 30, was eliminated in the third round of the French Open by Belgium's Elise Mertens.
Her best result at Roland Garros is a quarter-final appearance in 2022 when she lost to eventual winner Iga Swiatek.
The draw for the French Open, which begins at the weekend, takes place later on Thursday.



French Veteran Gael Monfils Becomes the Oldest Player to Win an ATP Tour Singles Title

 Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
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French Veteran Gael Monfils Becomes the Oldest Player to Win an ATP Tour Singles Title

 Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)
Gael Monfils of France holds up the trophy after defeating Zizou Bergs of Belgium to win the men's singles of the ASB Classic tennis tournament at Manuka Doctor Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025. (David Rowland/Photosport via AP)

French veteran Gael Monfils became the oldest player to win an ATP Tour title after beating Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-4 in Auckland on Saturday.

Monfils claimed his 13th tour title 20 years after his first and at the age of 38 years, 132 days. He took over from Roger Federer, who was 38 years, 74 days old when he won the final tour title of his career, the Swiss Indoor title at Basel in 2019.

Monfils currently is ranked 52 and is the oldest player in the history of the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 100.

Pancho Gonzalez was 44 years, 7 months and 4 days old when he won a Kingston, Jamaica singles title in 1972, prior to the formation of the ATP Tour in 1990.

The Auckland final was delayed on Saturday by a medical emergency in the crowd but Monfils showed the same mixture of aggression and tenacious defense to claim his first title since the Stockholm Open in 2023.

Prior to the start of the Auckland tournament, Monfils spoke about how his love of tennis kept him going.

“I love tennis. I love what I’m doing so of course all the sacrifices you do, they are a little bit easier. When you love something, it’s easier to keep pushing,” he said.

“I’ve been enjoying myself since the first day I played tennis and (at) 60 years old I will still have this joy. Practice, it’s easy. It’s in the DNA. Stay in shape, it’s easy. It’s more the travel.”

After collecting the Auckland trophy, Monfils headed straight to the airport for a flight to Melbourne where he will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round of the Australian Open.