Tennis essentials, 22 October: Goffin says goodbye in Brussels, Monfils cancels his, no favours for Djokovic

The day mixed farewells with fixtures: David Goffin played the last singles match of his career in Brussels, and Gaël Monfils confirmed he will not play his own. Elsewhere, the race to the ATP Finals drew a blunt opinion from Daniil Medvedev, and the world No. 1 finally won a match.

Goffin stops at home, in Brussels

A former world No. 7, the 35-year-old from Liège had organised his last week down to the farewell evening: in the first round he came back on Rémy Bertola (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and cancelled the party. On Thursday, Alex Michelsen beat him in two sets (6-3, 6-4), and Goffin left the court under a video tribute, in tears, with a message from Rafael Nadal. He is still in the doubles, with Raphaël Collignon. According to We Love Tennis.

Monfils: retirement without the farewells

The divorce from Elina Svitolina, announced on social media on Monday, has spilled into sport: the 40-year-old Parisian has pulled out of the tournaments meant to serve as his farewell, in Lyon and Paris. “Gaël has never managed to be good on court without being happy off it,” writes Quentin Moynet in L’Équipe’s Causerie. Stan Wawrinka still expects him at his farewell exhibition in Geneva on 19 December, next to Roger Federer and Andy Murray. According to We Love Tennis.

Lyon: Musetti meets Van Assche, Wawrinka takes the night session

First edition of the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes at the LDLC Arena: Lorenzo Musetti saw off France’s Moïse Kouame (6-4, 6-4) and plays Luca Van Assche, who beat Valentin Vacherot, for a place in the semis. Stan Wawrinka, 41, handled Martin Landaluce, 21 years his junior, and gets Flavio Cobolli in the night session. “I trained like a madman to arrive as well prepared as possible,” he said. According to We Love Tennis.

Tsonga wants the Davis Cup job, again

Owner of the Lyon tournament and everywhere this week, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has not left the news: “It’s in my blood,” he said again on RMC Sport on Thursday, a candidate for the France Davis Cup captaincy. He had applied three years ago, and was turned down over possible conflicts of interest. Our morning piece.

Sinner: his old fitness coach questions the surgery

Out since his Wimbledon title on 12 July, Jannik Sinner will not return before 2027. Marco Panichi, who conditioned his body for years, with a stint alongside Novak Djokovic, calls it “a classic runner’s ailment”: an inflammation born of overload and repeated strides on hard courts. In all his years, he had almost never heard of an operation for this kind of injury. According to We Love Tennis.

Turin: no wildcard, says Medvedev

Novak Djokovic sits 11th in the race, two places off the qualifying spot held by Rafael Jodar, with two tournaments left to get there. Daniil Medvedev, speaking from Almaty, is against an invitation: the rule that reserves a place for a Grand Slam winner outside the top 8 already works as a wildcard, in his view. “If he doesn’t qualify, that’s life,” he said. According to We Love Tennis.

Rybakina finally wins as world No. 1

Beaten in her first match as WTA No. 1 in Beijing, then withdrawn from Wuhan, Elena Rybakina waited until Ningbo for a win: on Thursday, Polina Kudermetova retired after thirty minutes and five games (5-0). The Kazakh moves into the quarter-finals, where Katarzyna Kawa waits. According to the WTA.