Gael Monfils shows again why he is worth cheering for

While there is a lot of the world that isn’t doing too well right now, unfortunately, I have a bit of positivity for Tuesday. This is all about Gael Monfils, but not simply because this weekend he won his first tournament in almost two years. It was what Monfils did after the final match that mattered most.

Gael Monfils has been one of the best showmen in tennis for years, of course. But he’s also just a good guy. Winning a tournament, which Monfils did this weekend when he took the final at the Stockholm Open to win his first title since January 2022, is great, but showing class after the victory and giving thanks to those most important to you is even better.

After winning the final in three sets and two hours and 35 minutes, one might assume Gael Monfils to be too tired to say a lot in the victory ceremony. But Monfils said the type of things that all of us should say to those who matter most. On hand to watch Monfils in the final were his mother, wife (tennis player Elina Svitolina), and his young daughter.

Gael Monfils proves yet again what a good guy he is

Gael Monfils addressed them directly after winning. “Special week for me with three ladies. My mom, thank you. As always it’s nice to win a title in front of her, the last one was in Metz so I hope she is happy,” started Monfils. “My wife Elina, thank you. The last one my daughter Skaï who’s watching in front of the TV. It’s my first time as a father that I have won a tournament so it is very special to do it in front of those three together so thank you.”

Basically, if a person had dry eyes after watching Monfils give thanks then that person either wasn’t really watching what Monfils was saying or that person isn’t human. (Oddly, maybe tennis has a large amount of turtles who follow the sport. Can turtles cry? I hope not.)

But once again Monfils showed why so many people adore him. He’s fun to watch play in matches, of course, but he’s also an easy player to root for. Cheering for people who seem to be jerks isn’t easy. But cheering for people who just seem to have an awareness that we all should give thanks to those around us is something we should do. Gael Monfils is among the latter group.