Gaël Monfils, 38 years old and current 52nd in the world, qualified on Thursday for the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in Auckland, by sweeping the Argentinian Facundo Diaz (78th) in two sets, 6-3, 6-1. In the half, the Frenchman will face an American twice his age, Nishesh Basavareddy, 133rd in the ATP and who took the best in the quarter in three sets 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, over his compatriot Alex Michelsen, 41st in the world and seeded No.8.
Failing to still have 20-year-old legs, Monfils will approach this meeting relatively fresh since he only took 1h17 to reach the last four of this tournament which also serves as a last rehearsal before the Open. Australia.
Once he has finished in New Zealand, Gaël Monfils will return to Melbourne, where he now knows his opponent in the first round of the Australian Open: his young compatriot Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard (30th), in what is announces itself as another clash of generations.
World No.1 Jannik Sinner will face Chilean Nicolas Jarry to begin defending his title at the Australian Open Tennis tournament, which begins Sunday in Melbourne, while Novak Djokovic has inherited a perilous path that could lead him to face Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, according to the draw made on Thursday.
A difficult journey for Djokovic
Sinner, comfortably installed on the throne of the ATP circuit, with more than 4,000 points ahead of Alexander Zverev (world No.2) according to the ranking published Monday, beat the Russian Daniil Medvedev last year in the final of the tournament. After this first Grand Slam coronation, the Italian won the US Open and ATP Masters trophies.
-The N.1 seed, however, is entangled in a case of alleged doping, after the discovery, twice in March 2024, of minute traces of clostebol (steroid) in his body. The Italian was completely cleared by the International Agency for Integrity in Tennis (Itia) before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed. A decision is awaited.
The 23-year-old could meet Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas or Australian Alex de Minaur for the quarters, and Medvedev in the semi-final.
World No.7 Novak Djokovic will start against the American Nishesh Basavareddy, who has a wild card. From his fourth match, however, he could have to win over the world No.10, the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, then Alcaraz in the quarters and Alexander Zverev in the semis.
On the women’s side, No.1 Aryna Sabalenka must begin to defend her title against American Sloane Stephens, former winner of the US Open.
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