Monfils Wins on 40th Birthday at US Open

Gael Monfils won on his 40th birthday at the 2026 US Open, beating Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 2-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 on Louis Armstrong Stadium. He became the oldest man to win a US Open main-draw match since Jimmy Connors beat Jaime Oncins on Connors' 40th birthday on Sept. 2, 1992.

Armstrong sang Happy Birthday. Monfils bowed mid-match after a leaping forehand smash, spun his hand by his ear to ask for more noise, and treated the night like a farewell tour stop that still had to be won. This is his final US Open. He plans to retire at the end of 2026.

From a lost first set to a rout

Vallejo, ranked around 60, took the opener 6-2. Monfils flipped the match immediately. The second set went 6-1. The third 6-2. The fourth was a 6-0 close. Once the Frenchman found the showman version of his game, the Paraguayan teenager could not keep up with the pace or the theater.

Monfils is in his 18th US Open. He reached the semifinals here in 2016. He also opened this fortnight by reaching the mixed doubles semifinals with his wife, Elina Svitolina, in their first event as a team. Then the birthday singles match landed on the calendar exactly where he wanted it.

What he told the crowd

"That was definitely very special. To play the day of my 40th birthday is special. You guys made it, like, incredible," Monfils told the Armstrong crowd, per AP, before they sang to him.

On the leaping forehand winner that drew the mid-match bow, he admitted the jump is harder than a normal swing. With a comfortable lead, he wanted the joy. "There's not many, many times left, and, you know, it was the right moment, so why not try it?"

Round 2 and the record book

Next is No. 14 seed Learner Tien. Monfils earned his first Grand Slam singles win since the first round of Wimbledon in 2025. The birthday win also pushed him deeper into French Slam lore on match wins, with coverage citing his place atop that French record list as the night went on.

Day-session chalk elsewhere already had Coco Gauff through on Ashe and Mirra Andreeva through on Armstrong. Monfils gave the night session the story people will still talk about in September. Forty years old, a lost first set, a Happy Birthday chorus, and a straight march through the last three sets. Connors had the last word on this particular US Open birthday note in 1992. Monfils just borrowed it for one more night in New York.