Stefanos Tsitsipas has called Gael Monfils one of his best friends on tour and said that tennis is losing a rare personality as the Frenchman retires. Tsitsipas spoke in Almaty on Friday after reaching the semifinals.

“Great friend of mine, one of the best friends that I have on tour. An absolutely lovely soul. I’m actually quite sad that tennis is going to lose a person like that,” Tsitsipas said. “You don’t find players on tour like him. He just has this charisma about him that’s very difficult to find.”

“Tennis needs more personalities like this. Tennis needs people that approach life lightheartedly and with humor. And he’s just the absolute best at that,” he added. “Despite, believe it or not, never having won a Grand Slam title, he’s probably as respected as someone who has won multiple Grand Slams.”

I would love to stay in touch with him, because I feel like he’s a person with very good intentions and a very pure heart.

He also said he wanted to stay close to Monfils once his career is over. “I’m going to miss Gaël a lot, but I don’t want to bother him. I would love to stay in touch with him, because I feel like he’s a person with very good intentions and a very pure heart.”

Daniil Medvedev also reflected on the players stepping away this year, and singled out Monfils. “It’s great when you see the players who retire being happy with what they achieved, with how they finished their career. Of course, with Gaël it’s a tough period; I wish him all the best,” Medvedev said. “But with Mikhail Kukushkin, David Goffin, Stan Wawrinka, it seems like they are enjoying it. At one moment you have to stop. So it’s always good to see them happy to stop.”

Kukushkin played the last match of his career in Almaty on Tuesday, and Goffin his in Brussels on Thursday.