Learner Tien asked Gael Monfils for an autograph moments after beating the retiring Frenchman at the Canadian Open. Former world No. 6 Monfils will hang up his racket at the end of the season and received a wildcard into the Masters 1000 event in Montreal this week.
Monfils's final Canadian Open
Now ranked down at No. 347, Monfils earned a big win over Kamil Majchrzak in his opening match. But despite bagelling 12th seed Tien in round two, he suffered a 6-3 0-6 6-3 defeat at the hands of the young American.
Tien grew up watching clips of Monfils on YouTube and admitted it was a “childhood dream” to share the court with the 13-time title winner. So he couldn’t refuse the opportunity to ask for a memento from their first meeting.
Autograph request
While Monfils was busy taking photos and signing autographs for the fans in the stands, the 20-year-old decided to get in on the action. Tien walked up to his French opponent with a marker and a tennis ball from the match, asking for an autograph on his own.
The former world No. 6 happily obliged, and Tien later shared a photo of the signed ball on his Instagram story. “First time asking for an autograph,” he wrote.
Match details
After losing the first set of their second-round match in Tuesday’s primetime night session, Monfils stormed back to win seven games in a row, taking the second 6-0 and going an early break up in the decider.
But the 39-year-old started to run out of steam, and Tien came back from behind in the third set to claim victory over one of his idols. He shared a warm embrace with Monfils at the net and then urged the crowd to cheer on his opponent.
Tributes and next steps
The American also wrote “legend” on the camera lens in tribute to Monfils. And the praise continued, as Tien said: “I think I got lucky. He got tired a bit in the third set.
“I don’t think I would even be out here running if I was 39 years old, and the fact that he’s out here, moving like he is, playing like he is, is incredible. It’s an honour to share the court with him. It’s a childhood dream of mine, and I’m super happy that it finally happened.”
The 12th seed is now set to face Tommy Paul in his third-round match, while Monfils will look ahead to the rest of the North American hard-court swing. The retiring French star has already received wildcards into the Cincinnati Open and the US Open.
