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Monaco Loses at Rock-bottom Montpellier and Concedes 3rd Place to Lille in Ligue 1

Mousa Tamari of Montpellier HSC celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Montpellier HSC and AS Monaco, in Montpellier, Southern France, 17 January 2025. EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO
Mousa Tamari of Montpellier HSC celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Montpellier HSC and AS Monaco, in Montpellier, Southern France, 17 January 2025. EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO
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Monaco Loses at Rock-bottom Montpellier and Concedes 3rd Place to Lille in Ligue 1

Mousa Tamari of Montpellier HSC celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Montpellier HSC and AS Monaco, in Montpellier, Southern France, 17 January 2025. EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO
Mousa Tamari of Montpellier HSC celebrates after scoring a goal during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Montpellier HSC and AS Monaco, in Montpellier, Southern France, 17 January 2025. EPA/GUILLAUME HORCAJUELO

Monaco's floundering season took another turn for the worse as it lost at rock-bottom Montpellier 2-1 in Ligue 1 and conceded third place to Lille on Friday.
Bruno Genesio's Lille extended its unbeaten run in all competitions to 21 games with a 2-1 home win against Nice to move one point above Monaco, which played earlier.
Despite taking the lead through Germany defender Thilo Kehrer in the first half against the league's worst defense, third-placed Monaco collapsed after the break when Jordan forward Mousa Al Tamari scored twice, The Associated Press reported.
New signing Mika Biereth started in attack for coach Adi Hütter's Monaco, which has won only twice in the past 11 games overall.
It was only Montpellier's third win in 18 league games.
Defeat left Monaco 12 points behind leader Paris Saint-Germain and increased the pressure on Hütter.
Next up for Lille is a tough trip to Premier League leader Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Genesio's side is proving very resilient this season.
Lille fell behind in the 29th when midfielder Sofiane Diop turned the ball in after goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier spilled a right-wing cross from Jonathan Clauss.
Clauss was fooled by striker Jonathan David's dummy shortly after the break, however, and David astutely set up Hakon Haraldsson's equalizer. Then Clauss botched a clearance in the 63rd and defender Bafodé Diakité finished.
Nice dropped to fifth place and one point behind Monaco.
PSG is at Lens on Saturday.

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Monfils Beats Fritz to Reach Australian Open's 4th Round at Age 38

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 18, 2025 France's Gael Monfils celebrates winning his third round match against Taylor Fritz of the US REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 18, 2025 France's Gael Monfils celebrates winning his third round match against Taylor Fritz of the US REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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Monfils Beats Fritz to Reach Australian Open's 4th Round at Age 38

Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 18, 2025 France's Gael Monfils celebrates winning his third round match against Taylor Fritz of the US REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 18, 2025 France's Gael Monfils celebrates winning his third round match against Taylor Fritz of the US REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Gael Monfils joined Roger Federer as the only man to reach the Australian Open's fourth round at age 38 or older since the tournament field expanded to 128 players in 1988, coming back to beat No. 4 seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
After punctuating his victory with a 134 mph (215 kph) ace — his 24th of the afternoon, doubling Fritz's total — Monfils did a celebratory dance at the baseline while thousands of fans at Margaret Court Arena roared, many waving red-white-and-blue French flags.
He started his season with a title at a hard-court event in Auckland, New Zealand, which made him the oldest man to win a tournament since at least 1990.
“Just fortunate. But every day is different. We work hard. I try to be very disciplined with the recovery. I am a strong believer (in) myself. Strong belief I can do some damage,” said Monfils, who has never been past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open but did reach two major semifinals, most recently at the 2016 US Open. “With a little luck, here we are in the second week of the Australian Open.”
Federer was a slightly older 38 when he got to the semifinals at Melbourne Park in 2020, which turned out to be his last appearance at the tournament.
Monfils next will take on a much-younger opponent, either No. 16 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy or No. 21 Ben Shelton of the United States, who are both 22.
Playing his usual brand of charismatic, entertaining tennis in front of a loud crowd Saturday, Monfils compiled an impressive ratio of 58 winners to 34 unforced errors and dropped just one service game. And while Monfils won 11 of the 15 points he finished at the net, Fritz only went 16-for-30 when he pushed forward.
“I've done the job,” Monfils said.
The 27-year-old Fritz, the runner-up to Jannik Sinner at the US Open in September, became the highest-seeded man to exit the bracket at Melbourne Park this year. Fritz's right foot was treated by a trainer during the match.
The result ended a 12-match losing streak for Monfils against top-five players at Grand Slam tournaments.
Monfils' wife, Elina Svitolina, was scheduled to play in the same stadium on Saturday night — and also against a fourth-seeded foe, two-time Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini.
“I warmed up the court for her,” Monfils said.