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Monfils exits Asia with knee troubles



The tennis future of Gael Monfils could rest with a knee injury diagnosis this week in Paris after the flamboyant Frenchmen withdrew from this week's Japan Open to return to France for medical consultations.

Monfils only returned to the ATP last month after four months out with his problem, playing a Metz semi-final followed by a quarter-final in Bangkok. But a Tokyo test proved to be a step too far, with Monfils heading home in pain after losing to compatriot Gilles Simon in Thailand with his fitness clearly a question.

Monfils, his ranking down to 44th, has been bothered for months by a split patella in his right knee; his injury is not the first for his fragile knees.

He and new coach Patrick Chamagne took the decision to call off the Asian swing. Some reports from Paris now indicate that surgery and the subsequent long rehab period might be a very real possibility.

France's Gael Monfils, who has been plagued by a knee injury for large parts of 2012, will not play again this year, his coach said on Thursday.

The former world number seven has seen his ranking slip to 47 after missing four months of the season with a right knee problem, an absence which included the French Open, Wimbledon, Olympics and the US Open.

He returned in September, making the semifinals in Metz before pulling out of the Asian ATP swing and losing in the first round in Stockholm this week to Sweden's Patrik Rosenholm, the world 436.

"He doesn't have a problem with his knee but we decided there was no point in playing the rest of the year. We have already turned our attention to 2013," said Monfils's coach Patrick Chamagne.

Gael Monfils has ended his 2012 season #atp

2012 w liczbach

Ranking: 78
Bilans meczów: 19-10 (65,5 %)
Łączna liczba spotkań: 29
Tytuły: 0
Finały: 2 (Doha, Montpellier)
Zarobki: $367,722

Leconte: Monfils ‘doesn’t know what to do’

Former Top 10 player Henri Leconte tells The Tennis Space that Gael Monfils is “completely lost at the moment and doesn’t know what to do.” The former world No. 7 has been saddled with knee injuries and has seen his ranking drop to No. 77. He only managed to play 29 matches in 2012.

“Maybe he’s going to stop playing tennis, you never know for sure,” Leconte said. “I hope not. He has a strange way of training, thinking about sports, about his life, his entourage, his everything. It’s a nightmare. He doesn’t know where to go ... He’s been lost for two years. It’s a shame, because he’s so talented.”

Monfils makes bright start



Australian Open night session matches on Margaret Court Arena have a reputation for entertainment, and Tuesday’s crowd was treated to another spectacle when Frenchman Gael Monfils did battle with Ukrainian 18th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov.

In a match that pitted arguably two of the biggest entertainers in the men’s game against one another, it was the flair of the Frenchman that proved the difference, Monfils recording a 6-7(7) 7-6(4) 6-3 6-3 victory.

It was a happy return to Melbourne for Monfils, who, after spending three and a half months sidelined in 2012 due to an ongoing right knee injury, was making his first appearance in a Grand Slam since his journey to Australia last year.

The 26-year-old, now ranked 86 in the world – a number that is set to head in the right direction over the coming month – said he was happy just to be back out on the court.

“I feel very good, it’s one more win under my belt. He’s a top 20 player so it gives me a lot of confidence ... to come back and then win against a seed,” he said.

Seemingly keen to assert his superiority over his opponent in the fashion stakes, Monfils, sporting a fluorescent yellow sleeveless shirt, got the crowd buzzing early with four consecutive aces in the opening game.

Apart from those early fireworks, it was a tentative start to the match for both players, as they struggled to find their range from the baseline.

Despite the occasional break point, it took a tie-break to separate the pair, with Dolgopolov holding his nerve at the crucial stage.

The second set also went the distance, but this time Monfils took the initiative into the tiebreak, advancing into the net to level at one set all.

From that point, the level of tennis stepped up a gear, with the pair reaching into their respective bag of tricks to muster multiple service breaks at the beginning of the third.

But it was Monfils' superior court coverage that proved the difference, as a sliding backhand passing shot saw him secure a 5-2 advantage. He then made no mistake, serving out the set.

With a jam-packed Margaret Court Arena relishing every rally, Dolgopolov changed the momentum when he took a 2-0 lead at the beginning of the fourth. However, his resurgence was only temporary as Monfils steamed home to take the match in two hours and 45 minutes.

His supporters will be hoping the Frenchman’s renaissance continues when he meet Chinese-Taipei’s Lu Yen-Hsun in the second round.

Dramatic finish for Monfils



Gael Monfils has always been one for dramatic flair, and he gave an Academy Award-winning performance on Thursday night at Hisense Arena when he edged Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6(5) 4-6 0-6 6-1 8-6 in three hours and 37 minutes in the second round.

It was the Frenchman’s third five-setter in his last eight matches at the Australian Open, and for sheer entertainment value at the conclusion of the match, none of the other ones came close.

The former world No.7, who owns a huge and often very effective serve, double faulted four times in the final game on match points. In fact, the entire game and the result of the match essentially came down to how he served.

Monfils went up 40-15 to gain his first two match points behind two aces and a forehand volley winner, but he also had double faulted.

After the scrappy Lu laced a forehand winner to fight off one match point, Monfils double faulted again on his second match point.

He then nailed a 217km/h ace down the tee to gain his third match point, and then double faulted so badly off his racquet frame that his serve landed to the right of the doubles alley.

That was followed by a 186km/h ace out wide before he sent another double fault into the bottom of the net on his fourth match point, shaking his head as the crowd gasped.

Monfils then forced Lu into a forehand error at deuce and then, almost comically, double-faulted long on his fifth match point.

Finally, after he forced Lu into a backhand error, Monfils whacked an unreturnable serve at the Chinese Tapiei player’s body to win the match.

“It was more like I need to ace because I knew it would be double fault for sure,” said Monfils, who served 11 aces and 14 double faults in the fifth set alone.

The bizarre end to the contest slightly overshadowed what was an extremely competitive match, much of which was played from the baseline, where the two engaged in numerous long cat and mouse rallies.

Lu, the much smaller player, wasn't afraid to charge the net, approaching 39 times and winning 24 of his forays.

The two were nearly even from the baseline and the match clearly could have gone either way, but Lu committed two costly groundstroke errors when he was broken to 6-7 in the fifth set and that proved to be his undoing.

Monfils, who spent much of 2012 off the tour battling knee injuries, will face compatriot and 14th seed Gilles Simon in the third round.

Mario pisze:Nie wiem czy Monf trochę nie przesadza z ilością turniejów. Po AO planuje Montpellier, DC, Rotterdam, Marsylie i Delray Beach. Rozumiem chęć poprawy rankingu, ale turniej w Stanach wg mnie jest niepotrzebny. Zobaczymy, może z czegoś się wycofa.

Monfils, mystery man



It is an old journalistic tradition: if you are stumped on a story, ask the bloke sitting next to you for help. The boss wants me to write about Gael Monfils; easy-peasy – go and talk to the French journos. Those honest, sober souls of L’Equipe are bound to know the skinny on their player. The L’Equipe mob know everything. Où sont les françaises?

Alas, les françaises were no help whatsoever. “We don’t know,” they said as one, looking amazed that anyone would even think to ask such a question.

It turns out that no one really knows anything about the tall and talented Monfils. Part athlete, part tennis player, part showman, he is a mystery to everyone, including himself. Had he a fraction of the application and dedication of a David Ferrer, let’s say, he would have been a regular fixture in the world’s top 10 for the past eight years. Then again, if he was as regimented as Ferrer, he would not be able to play the sort of exuberant, creative and, frankly, at times, ridiculous tennis that has taken him to a handful of grand slam quarter-finals and one grand slam semi-final. No, there is no rhyme or reason to Monfils.

At the moment, he is without a coach which may or may not be a good thing. Many players who have spent time alone on the circuit have found the experience beneficial. Roger Federer and Andy Murray both enjoyed spells by themselves, times when they were free to make their own decisions and be their own men. But given that no one really knows what kind of man Monfils is – other than a frightfully nice chap with delightful manners – becoming his own man could be rather dangerous.

The year has started well enough with a quarter-final appearance in Doha and a semi-final slot in Auckland, and now he is through to the third round here in Melbourne. That said, getting through the first two rounds has taken nine, nail-biting sets. To get past Yen-Hsun Lu on Thursday, Monfils needed a hatful of match points. On four of them, Monfils double faulted but, to even things out, he had served four aces to get the match points in the first place. Nothing is ever straightforward.

The good news is that after a long spell spent coping with tendinitis in both knees, particularly the left one, Monfils seems fit and strong at the moment. Quite how he manages to maintain that fitness is anyone’s guess given the pounding his body takes in every match.

With arms and legs seemingly made of elastic, he can contort his body into any shape he pleases as he chases down every ball. A little like the children’s entertainers who make models out of long, thin balloons, there is a sound of squeaking and then a little bit of magic. Squeak, squeak, squeak as Monfils’s massive sneakers manoeuvre into position and then backhand pass with added pirouette; squeak, squeak, squeak: running tweener winner; squeak, squeak, squeak: flying hotdog.

Now he must play Gilles Simon, one of his best friends on the tour, for a place in the last 16 in Melbourne. Like chalk and cheese, Simon – also coachless – is sensible, organised and hardworking while Monfils is... well, he’s just Gael. Opposites clearly attract.

Back on the L’Equipe desk, the French are looking glum and ruing what might have been. According to them, Monfils is technically better than Tsonga and physically better than Gasquet (any of the boys in the locker room will tell you Monfils is one of the best athletes on tour). They wonder how Monfils could have turned out and how many titles he could have won. Instead they have a wonderfully gifted player and a remarkable character to follow – all they can do is cling on to his coat tails and see where the journey takes them.

So, is Monfils’s current resurgence a fluke or the beginning of a comeback? Can Gael beat his pal Gilles? Is Monfils back to his best? To quote les françaises: “We don’t know.” And neither does Monfils. As the saying goes – ignorance is bliss.