ATP Masters Monte-Carlo: Why the audience loves Gael Monfils
Gael Monfils hardly ever has easy matches. His opening match at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo was also - in good Viennese style - a piece of cake.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Apr 09, 2024, 10:58 pm
37 years old and not a bit quieter : Admittedly, Gael Monfils is no longer the young scamp he was almost twenty years ago, when the author of these lines was able to watch the lively Frenchman live for the first time at an ATP Challenger tournament in Prague. Even then, the crowd favorite impressed with his incredible athleticism and his ability to be a crazy winner. His refreshing and likeable nature was also evident at a young age. As far as self-confidence and self-assurance are concerned, age has allowed the Parisian to mature further.
However, few tennis pros in recent years have been stopped as often by annoying injuries and aches and pains as the Frenchman. We will never know what Gael Monfils would have been capable of if he had been spared his numerous ailments. But let's get out of the subjunctive: It is what it is - and it's a good thing, at least for the enthusiastic tennis audience that keeps cheering the eternal underdog on to victory.
This is what happened yesterday in the opening match of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo: Monfils, who qualified directly for the main draw of the traditional clay court event in the Principality of Monaco with a wildcard, faced the Australian lucky loser Aleksandar Vukic in the first round, who had actually been defeated in the second qualifying round by his compatriot Cristopher O'Connell in three close sets. A cancellation by Jordan Thompson later, the time had come.
In the second round against Medvedev
And it was another memorable performance by Gael Monfils, one of the many in the ATP Tour video database. In the first set, the Western European blew both a break lead and a match point at 6:5 and his own serve in the short decision. In the second set, however, he got his revenge - two breaks from the current world number 40 resulted in a 1:1 set tie, and there were some crazy angle shots from the "enfant terrible".
The numerous fans on Court des Princes - the second court in the Monte Carlo Country Club - really got excited in the deciding round. Vukic pulled away with two breaks to take a 4:1 lead. At this point, probably only the biggest optimists believed in a turnaround by Monfils. But the comeback came, and with full force. The man from "Down Under" only had one more game. After 2:13 hours, the score was 6:7 (7), 6:3 and 7:5 for the quasi-local hero (France is the protector of the Principality of Monaco), who can now prepare for a duel with the fourth-ranked player in the world, Daniil Medvedev.
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And who knows what is still possible for Günter Bresnik's former protégé in the second round. After all, Monfils is leading the head-to-head with the Russian 2:1. And Medvedev's love for the sandy surface is, as we know, coming to an end.
Here is the individual tableau in Monte Carlo.
montemap