Monfils was struggling with a back injury at the start of the fourth set as Ben Shelton advanced to the quarter-finals

At the same time, it is worth noting that – with this retirement – Monfils has become the player with the most retirements and walkovers in Open Era together with German Tommy Haas. Both are 33, ahead of Nikolay Davydenko and Philipp Kohlschreiber in this particular ranking.

Gael Monfils rallied from a set down to claim a thrilling 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over American Taylor Fritz in a third-round match at the Australian Open.

MELBOURNE, Australia — World No. 4 and U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz is out of the Australian Open after Gael Monfils continued his vintage run through the tournament. Fritz took the first set 6-3, but from thereafter Monfils took control, prevailing 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 6-4.