I'm the best athlete at 38: Monfils outplays Fritz

'I think I'm the best athlete at 38-years-old on the tour'

French flair topped American firepower as Gael Monfils turned back the clock to dump fourth seed Taylor Fritz out of the Australian Open on Saturday and celebrate his place in the last 16 with a dance on court.

At 38, Monfils is enjoying a late-career flourish and Fritz felt the full brunt of it at Margaret Court Arena as the flamboyant Frenchman rallied from a set down to claim a thrilling 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) 6-4 win in the afternoon sunshine.

Soaking up punishment from Fritz with a stonewall defence, Monfils dismantled the brawny American with a crafty game-plan and danced a jig after sealing victory with an ace down the "T".

"I felt good. I felt that this moment I wanted to do that," Monfils said of his celebration.

"I want to be myself .... That was my way to express my joy."

The win made Monfils the second oldest man to reach the fourth round since 1988 when the tournament started having full, 128-player draws. Only Roger Federer, in 2020, was older.

Monfils, who now shares the record for the most singles wins (37) by a Frenchman at Melbourne Park with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, next faces either Ben Shelton or Lorenzo Musetti as he bids for a third quarter-final appearance at Melbourne.

It has been a golden start to the season for Monfils, with the Frenchman on an eight-match winning streak after clinching the Auckland Classic title in the lead-up to Melbourne Park, making him the oldest ATP title-winner ever.

"I think I'm the best athlete at 38-years-old on the tour, yes," he said with a smile.

"I felt like I could move great today and the game-plan was to hold my best line and definitely change the tempo."

"I think I've done the job."

Fritz, the U.S. Open finalist, bows out with a reality check after making the quarter-finals in Melbourne last year.

The powerful American may look back at the match as a missed opportunity against the oldest player left in the draw.

In reality, though, he was outplayed after the first set as Monfils cut the errors to a minimum and constantly varied the pace of his shots.

The third-set tiebreak was a nightmare for Fritz as Monfils charged to a 6-0 lead in a blaze of winners before closing it out with a big forehand down the line.

"It sucks to go out in the third round," said Fritz, 11 years Monfils's junior. "The way it happened, I'm probably not going to lose too much sleep over, as someone who is like hypercritical of themselves normally."

"It's just a really good match from him."

"It seemed almost too easy for him to hurt me for how much I was struggling to hurt him."

Monfils played before his wife Elina Svitolina was scheduled at the same Margaret Court Arena against Jasmine Paolini - the women's fourth seed.

"I think I warmed up the court for her," Monfils joked.

He brushed off a suggestion that he "dreamed" of winning the title.

"My dream is to be old and with a lot of kids and healthy."