France's top tennis player Ugo Humbert lost to the second seed Alexander Zverev in four sets on Sunday to leave Gael Monfils as the only French player at the Australian Open.
Zverev beat Humbert 6-2, 6-2 to claim the Paris Masters last November and the 27-year-old German was as rapacious in the initial exchanges in the John Cain Arena at Melbourne Park to sweep through the opening set of their fourth round tie 6-1 in 27 minutes.
The 14th seed responded as brutally. The 26-year-old claimed the second set 6-2.
But from 3-3 in the third, Zverev won three consecutive games to take it 6-3 and control of the match.
His 18th ace of the encounter helped him to a 3-1 lead in the fourth. And from 3-2, another roll of three consecutive games furnished him with the fourth set 6-2 and the match after two hours and 16 minutes.
Humbert's exit turns the spotlight on Monfils who 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."
Chance
Monfils, ranked 41 in the world, went to Melbourne on the back of the title at the Auckland Classic. His 13th crown on tour furnished him at 38 years and four months 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 had 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.
He prevailed when Fils, the 20th seed, retired due to an injured left foot at the start of the fourth set.
"It's never a good way to win when someone retires like that," Humbert told the spectators in the John Cain Arena
"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 20-year-old Fils fail to recover, Mathieu could also call upon Benjamin Bonzi or Corentin Moutet 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."
Her argument though plays out with former Grand Slam tournament champions 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. Marion Bartoli, winner of the women's singles at Wimbledon in 2013, operates as an on-court interviewer at the tournament. And Yannick Noah, who claimed the French Open men's singles title in 1983, has taken over as Europe skipper in the international team competition the Laver Cup.
The lack of a successor to their exploits 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," he said in an interview with the French news agency AFP in December. "Let's be careful.
"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."
