French Open tennis: Monfils wants to emulate Ronaldo and LeBron

Gael Monfils played his final match at Roland-Garros in defeat by fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston but pledges to play on.Gael Monfils is determined ‌to emulate the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James by ⁠playing into his ⁠40s and hopes to play at Wimbledon, Montreal and the US Open before bringing down the curtain on his career on home soil ⁠at the Paris Masters.The Frenchman, who turns 40 in September, bade a fond farewell to Roland Garros after going down 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 to ⁠compatriot Hugo Gaston in the first round on Monday, walking off to a standing ovation that celebrated a career of two decades.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4NBA legend Jordan pays tribute to Guardiola at Man City manager’s sendofflist 2 of 4Inter Miami says Messi dealing with ‘overload’, fatigue in left hamstringlist 3 of 4What are the 10 biggest FIFA World Cup upsets in history?list 4 of 4Senegal football fans return home after royal pardon in Moroccoend of listMonfils will retire at the end of the season as he seeks to manage his body into his 40s.“Why do ‌I want to get to the States? Because I want to play until 40. My wish is to be an athlete that plays until 40 years old,” Monfils said.“Like Stan (Wawrinka), LeBron, Cristiano, (Patrice) Evra, like all of the athletes who have managed to continue their sport until the age of 40.“That’s what I want to do. You know that whatever happens this summer, I’m ⁠locked in to train.”The former world number six, who has ⁠enjoyed some of his best results on clay, acknowledged that the surface has become more challenging in recent years.While he hopes to secure a wildcard for the US Open, he also plans to ⁠play Wimbledon and Montreal.“Hopefully Wimbledon. Then need to decide if we go to Washington or not,” he said.“I think ⁠we will ask Montreal, hopefully. I want to ⁠say goodbye to Montreal. Obviously I will ask the French Federation to have the US Open wildcard. Hopefully I will have this one.“Asia is a bit blurry, to be honest. Then the end of ‌the year, I can tell you I will play Lyon, the new tournament. Nicolas (his agent) wants me to play Vienna, and then hopefully, Paris.”