WATCH: Gael Monfils in tears after playing heart out for his daughter Skai to stage an epic fifth-se

In one of the most awe-inspiring moments, Gael Monfils won a thrilling first-round match at the French Open and finished it by writing his daughter’s name ‘SKAI!’ on camera. Gael Monfils was playing his first match against Argentinian Sebastian Baez. The 36-year-old Monfils played beautifully during the whole match, taking the 2nd and 3rd sets. The set score was tied at 2-2 a piece, and in the 5th set Monfils was lagging at a score of 0-4. Monfils suddenly shifted gears and went on to win the 5th set with the score of 7-5.

What inspired that sudden change of tide for Gael Monfils in the 5th set? Gael Monfils told in the post-match on-court interview that he got the motivation to win the match by thinking about his daughter.

“At 3-0 down in the fifth I told myself I haven’t won a match since I’m a dad, and my daughter is in Paris, and I gotta get one for her,’” said Monfils. The proud father was amazed by how he finished the match and kept shaking his head after he won the match in disbelief. Ultimately, he broke down crying, lying flat on the court. The emotional display didn’t end there. He wrote his daughter’s name on the message camera to show the world who he won the match for.

Watch Gael Monfils break down into tears in the below video. It was a very emotional and electrifying moment, all rolled into one. The French tennis sensation thanked the crowd for their high-spirited support during the match. This was the first victory for Monfils after his comeback in 2023.

Monfils will now take on World No. 6 Holger Rune in the second round. Though this might be a tough matchup, Monfils could put up a great fight with the crowd getting behind him. His wife Elina Svitolina will take on Australian Storm Sanders in the 2nd round at the Roland Garros.

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Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina are Tennis parenting goals

Both Gael Monfils and his wife Elina Svitolina won their first-round matches at the French Open. The new parents could not be more proud of their daughter as they both brought her up at the end of their individual matches. Svitolina talked about the possibility of their daughter playing at the French Open in the future. Though Svitolina has had a little more success than Gael since her comeback, it seems like Monfils’ first round win could be the start of many.

Gael Monfils: ‘At 3-0 down in the fifth I told myself I haven’t won a match since I’m a dad, and my daughter is in Paris, and I gotta get one for her’ pic.twitter.com/uBCXJAlWQ7

— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) May 30, 2023

Both proud parents made a comeback after the birth of their daughter in 2023. Monfils made his comeback a month before in March at the Indian Wells. While Svitolina made her comeback at the Charleston Open in April. Though Elina Svitolina had a tough comeback initially, she won her first WTA 250 tournament at Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Gael Monfils signed the camera "Skaï" the name of him and Svitolina's daughter.

He said after the match that he won because of her. 🥹

The fact that he drew inspiration from his daughter is so beautiful. pic.twitter.com/JZUZtYIglv

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 30, 2023

Monfils had so far not won a single match in all the ATP tournaments he played. He got through the second round of a Challenger event as his opponent retired. But this win at the French Open was one for the archives. Beautiful play by Monfils and a beautiful story of father-daughter love inspiring him to excellence. World and tennis need more of such beautiful moments.