France's top tennis player, Ugo Humbert, and his veteran compatriot, Gael Monfils, will fly the flag for French tennis during the second week of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
As Humbert prepared for his clash on Sunday with second seed Alexander Zverev, Monfils, 38, advanced to the last-16 for the sixth time at the tournament after beating the fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-4.
"I keep playing for those kind of matches," said Monfils. "Big player, big stadium, good crowd, good energy. When you're 38 years old, it's what I want. I had it. It's exactly why I'm playing."
Monfils, ranked 41 in the world, entered the tournament on the back of the title at the Auckland Classic. His 13th crown on tour furnished him with the accolade of oldest man to lift a trophy at a senior level event since tennis was opened up to professional players in 1968.
"The strategy against Taylor was to hold the baseline and definitely change the tempo," added Monfils. "Hit some big shots down the line and use different types of shots with my forehand, some slice with my backhand and serve well."
On Monday, Monfils will take on another American, the 21st seed Ben Shelton, for a place in the last eight.
Humbert, the 14th seed, reached the fourth round at one of the four most prestigious events on the senior circuit, after beating his compatriot Arthur Fils on Friday evening.
Before the third round clash, Humbert said that win or lose, the match would be good for French tennis as it would guarantee one man in the last 16. "I will be doing my utmost to make sure it is me," added the 26-year-old.
He prevailed when Fils, the 20th seed, retired due to an injured left foot at the start of the fourth set.
It was their fifth meeting on the senior ATP tour in 18 months. Humbert won their first encounter in the opening round at the Cincinnati Open in August 2023. He then claimed the next two ties in 2024 on the grass at 's-Hertogenbosch in June and at the Canadian Open in August.
But in the final at the Tokyo Open in September, Fils saved a match point on his way to securing the crown.
There were no such heroics, however, on the John Cain Arena for the 20-year-old. "It's never a good way to win when someone retires like that," Humbert told the spectators in the stadium. "I hope it's not too serious an injury and that Arthur is back and playing soon."
Options
A sentiment likely shared by the France Davis Cup captain Paul-Henri Mathieu, who has selected the pair as his main players for next month's first round tie against Brazil in Orléans, central France.
But, based on the performances at the Australian Open, Mathieu has options, and could lure Monfils back into the fray.
Should Fils fail to recover, Mathieu could also call upon Benjamin Bonzi or Corentin Moutel who also fell by the wayside in the third round on Friday and Saturday respectively.
France's female players
The third round was, however, beyond the French women who started the tournament last Sunday.
Russian-born Varvara Gracheva, who has been competing under the French flag since June 2023, went out in the second round to complete a dismal showing at the tournament for the five players.
The world number 69 lost to 23-year-old German Eva Lys, who is 60 places beneath her in the WTA listings.
France's top female player, Diane Parry, 66th in the world, succumbed to the 18th seed Donna Vekic in the first round. The country's second best player, Caroline Garcia, was dispatched by former champion Naomi Osaka.
There were also first round losses for Chloé Paquet and Léolia Jeanjean.
Bright future
"It's true that the men have a great bunch of players who are playing very, very well," said Parry after her defeat. "Tennis is basically an individual sport and I'm not sure that it makes that much sense to analyse the performances of several players of the same nationality."
But top French tenniswomen are still in the public eye.
Amélie Mauresmo, who won the Australian Open in 2006 and Wimbledon the same summer, has become the tournament director at the French Open in Paris.
And Marion Bartoli, winner of the women's singles trophy at Wimbledon in 2013, operates as an on-court interviewer at the tournament.
The lack of a successor remains a concern for the bosses at the French tennis federation (FFT) which oversees the sport in the country.
FFT chief Gilles Moretton said patience was required during the search for a modern champion among French players.
"We've got good players. Let's be careful," he said in an interview with the French news agency AFP in December. "Let's not get carried away when the French players win a match and let's not destroy them when they lose. That's life."
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard appeared to have taken Moretton's message on board, following his first round defeat to Monfils on Tuesday.
After a spectacular year in which he rose 170 places up the rankings to finish 2024 at number 30 in the world, the 21-year-old started his first Grand Slam tournament as a seed for the first time.
He saved match points during the encounter before losing in the fifth set. "The match could have ended much earlier," said Mpetshi Perricard. "But I did everything I could to turn it around. I'm young and I know I'm bound to improve. I'm not going to go into a depression because I lost to a good player."
