GAEL MONFILS will swap his tennis kit for a suit and tie when he finally hangs up his racquet in the coming months.
A 6-3 6-4 6-3 second-round loss to American Learner Tien on the Louis Armstrong Stadium closed the chapter on his Grand Slam record after 21 years.
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The maverick Frenchman – who won in round one on his 40th birthday – made 71 major appearances, reaching the semi-finals of the US Open in 2016 and French Open in 2008.
It is likely he will bow out for good at the Paris Masters, in his home city, in the first week of November.
Yet Monfils – who has a daughter with wife Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian tennis player – will now work in an office after professional sport.
Monfils, one of the sport’s great entertainers, said: “I have a new chapter coming next year. I will work in finance.
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“You know, I already signed to work in wealth management in a Swiss company.
“So my next chapter will be working in an office and working in finance.
“I will always have a look on tennis, because I love the sport. My wife’s playing.
“I don’t think this next year I will do so much about tennis.
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“I’ll be around definitely no matter what for Elina a little bit, but I will be more of a finance guy.”
After his exit, Monfils was honoured with a tribute video – it included a montage of his best shots and results – and he was handed a framed photo of him in action by tournament bosses.
The Parisian said: “It was an unbelievable atmosphere. Amazing energy on the court.
“It was really nice. You always want to give a little bit more, you know, you want to stay a little bit more.
“I gave my absolute all. Big congrats to Learner.
“(The montage) was really nice. Saw this first match against Novak [Djokovic] in 2005.
“I was thinking, even in juniors when I came first year and then saw the difference of the colour of the courts and everything, so it was really nice.
“Reminds me how many matches that I played here and how many hundred atmospheres that I had.
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“I’m just me, Gael Monfils. I think I have been the same since I came on tour with a lot of joy, and then I feel like you don’t have to tell anyone how they want to remind you.
“Some people might like me, some not. Some people think I’m fun, some not.
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“Some people think that I entertain them, some maybe not. So I’m all right with everything.
“The most important thing for me is how my family lived all these years and how they will remember this ride. That was the most important for me.”