The ATP 1000 Mutua Madrid Open begins today in the Spanish capital. The Masters event is spread out over ten days. The French veteran Gael Monfils will end the day at the centre court, Manolo Santana Stadium. Gael will square off with Borna Gojo, who is a qualifier from Croatia.
Monfils, who is 38 years of age, has played some brilliant tennis this season. Gael is still one of the more popular players on the ATP Tour. Monfils has secured one title this season and it was his 13th ever on the tour. He won the title at the ATP 250 in Auckland to start off the year where he defeated Zizou Bergs in the final. Monfils reached the fourth round at the Australian Open. He got to the round of 32 at Indian Wells and the round of 16 at the ATP 1000 Miami Masters. Gael have not played since Monte Carlo where he lost to Rublev in the second round.
The Paris native is ranked just outside the top 40 at the 42nd position right now. He has a match record of 15 wins and six losses on the ATP Tour in the 2025 season. Last season Monfils won 25 games in total and lost 21. Gael has beaten one top ten player so far this year. It was Taylor Fritz at the Australian Open (round of 32). Geal has been open about the fact that his tennis playing wife, Elina Svitolina, is a big motivating factor for him. The two of them have a daughter together. Monfils is currently playing with a lot of joy on the court.
The 27 year old from the city of Spit is currently ranked at number 353 in the world. Borna’s highest ranking ever was at number 72 back in November of 2023. Gojo turned pro in 2020 and attended college in the States (Wake Forest University) from 2017 to 2019. Borna started playing tennis pretty late in his life, at the age of 12. Growing up by the beautiful Dalmatian coast he idolised Marat Safin and Goran Ivanesivic.
Gojo is spending time on the Challenger tour too. Borna has played in three main tour events so far during the 2025 season. He was not able to qualify for the Australian Open. He played at Delray Beach and lost straight away. Just as he did in Marrakech. Gojo qualified for the ATP 500 in Munich last week but lost to Shelton in the opening round in a close match, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-7 (3). His match record is 0-3 for the season. Gojo had a great run in the qualifications for the ATP 1000 Madrid Masters. Borna got the better of Fucsovics in three sets and took out Kym in straight sets. Could he upset Monfils and win his first match on the ATP Tour in 2025?
