By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) – Learner Tien brought the curtain down on Gael Monfils’ Grand Slam career on Thursday as the American youngster defeated the French veteran 6-3 6-4 6-3 in a clash of generations to reach the U.S. Open third round.
Monfils turned back the clock to beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo in the first round on his 40th birthday and extend his stay in New York, but the wildcard’s run ended under lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium against an opponent half his age.
“I want to thank you all,” Monfils told the crowd after a video tribute on the giant screen that featured some of his most outrageous shots in New York over the last two decades.
“It’s been a long ride. I came here in 2003 as a junior and here I am in 2026, thank you very much. I felt all the love and I can tell you that you guys are my second-best crowd after Paris. You’re up there.
“It’s been an absolute honour to play in front of you all and to produce high-performance tennis.”
On a muggy evening on the main showcourt, Monfils appeared drained towards the end of the first set and turned to the crowd for inspiration, but 14th seed Tien was unfazed and tightened his grip on the contest.
With the opening set in the bag, 20-year-old Tien continued to dictate proceedings in the next, absorbing Monfils’ bursts of aggression to clinch it and edge closer to the third round for a meeting with Czech Jakub Mensik.
Monfils made a final, emotion-fuelled charge in the third set with some trademark shotmaking, but Tien stood his ground and sealed victory before warmly embracing the French showman who will retire at the end of the year.
“I think playing him in Montreal really helped with the nerves,” Tien said of his three-set victory over Monfils at the Canadian Open last month.
“I’m glad I didn’t feel like that tonight. I didn’t want the greatest comeback of all time to happen to me here.
“It was an incredible match. I told him in Montreal I hoped to play him one more time. I’m super happy that it happened here tonight. Sorry for drop-shotting you so much tonight.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
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