Gael Monfils saw off Alexis Galarneau in straight sets to kick-start his farewell appearance at the Indian Wells Open.

Monfils, who is retiring at the end of the season, prevailed 6-3 6-4 in 81 minutes on Wednesday, matching a record held by Richard Gasquet in the process.

The 39-year-old will next take on ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Three-time ATP Masters 1000 champion Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered another early exit as he went down to another former top-10 force in Denis Shapovalov.

"Definitely never easy to draw a guy like Stefanos in the first round. I think for both of us it was a very tough matchup," Shapovalov said after his 6-2 3-6 6-4 win.

"I knew I had to come out and play my 'A game' and come out on fire. It’s never easy to do that in the first rounds, but luckily, I was able to do that today. Definitely very happy with the win."

Joao Fonseca, meanwhile, overcame Raphael Collignon in straight sets.

144 - Gael Monfils claimed a 144th ATP Masters 1000 match win, equalling Richard Gasquet (144) for the most wins among French players since the format's introduction in 1990. Vanguard.#TennisParadise | @BNPPARIBASOPEN @atptour pic.twitter.com/Fr2lJiw47y

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) March 5, 2026

Data Debrief: Monfils makes history

Monfils had a record of his own before he entered the court.

Since the event's inauguration in 1976, Monfils (39 years 184 days) became the oldest wildcard entrant in the men's singles at Indian Wells.

In claiming his 144th match win at ATP 1000 level, Monfils equalled Gasquet for the most wins among French players since the format's introduction in 1990.

And he also became the fourth-oldest player to win a match at Masters level, trailing only Ivo Karlovic (40 years and 11 days), Jimmy Connors (39 years and 189 days) and Stan Wawrinka (39 years and 184 days).