That first set of the tournament was ultimately the only one Monfils dropped, winning his next four matches in straight sets.
Plenty was made about Monfils’ age throughout the tournament, particularly in comparison to his opponents – aged 27, 34, 24, 19 and 25 – but his class, ability and experience saw him as the last man standing, although at times he looked shattered, hunched over between points to regather himself.
Against Bergs – who was competing in his first ATP Tour final – Monfils saved his best for last.
The Frenchman constantly had his Belgian counterpart under pressure almost immediately, winning his opening service game before breaking that of the Bergs to go up a break as soon as possible.
Bergs struggled with his control all game, with more than 40 unforced errors and often sent attempted winners wide or long with just 12 finding the mark. Monfils was guilty of plenty of unforced errors as well, with 33 to just 10 winners, but the Frenchman seemed to make them in moments where he could afford to.
Monfils was flawless from his own serve; not facing a single break point in the first set before fending off six late in the second when it was clear fatigue was setting in and Bergs was attacking his second serve.
The pivotal moment in the match came in the second set. Bergs, already a break down, had three break points on the Monfils serve, only for Monfils to rattle off five points in a row to win the game.
It was similar in what was ultimately the final game of the match, as Bergs earned another three break points but could not convert.
Monfils, on the other hand, closed out the break of serve in two of the three games in which he earned the opportunity, and needed just one match point to close it out.
The title was Monfils' 13th on the ATP Tour, coming 20 years after his first.
Good morning
We were all geared up for two finals today to round out the ASB Classic for 2025.
Michael Venus paired with Nikola Mektic were set to take on the American duo of Christian Harrison and Rajeev Ram in the doubles final, however, Ram has withdrawn with an injury sustained in the semi-final.
It means that Venus and Croatian Nikola Mektic take the title, for their first as a new combination. It will be recorded as Venus’ second Auckland trophy after he won the tournament here with Mate Pavic in 2016.
Instead of the final, a doubles exhibition will be played, with Kiwi Isaac Becroft stepping in with Harrison, against Venus and Mektic and beginning at 11:30am.
Then, rounding out the tournament is crowd favourite Frenchman Gael Monfils against Belgian Zizou Bergs in the singles final. That match begins at approximately 2pm.
