Clearly, he can't do it! Gaël Monfils (55th in the world) was beaten 6-3, 6-3 in 1h12 in the second round of the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane by the Serbian Novak Djokovic (7th), who dominated the Frenchman for the twentieth time in… twenty matches, Thursday. 20-0, this is a record in a head-to-head match between two players in ATP history.
In each set, Djokovic, who qualified for the quarter-finals, took Monfils' serve very early, exploiting the only break point he got in the first set, then taking “white” Monfils' service at 1-1 in the second where he even stole the Frenchman's commitment a second time at 5-3.
The Serbian, in good shape, committing few direct errors, dominant in the rally, had a serious match and left no chance to Monfils, 38, who only had one break point to spare. eat throughout the game.
The Frenchman will console himself, perhaps, by having achieved the best point of the match on a fabulous reflex backhand half-volley at the very start of the second set. Fair play, Djokovic applauded Monfils after this superb shot.
Djokovic, former world number 1 who is coming out of a 2024 season without a Grand Slam title – a first since 2017 – will try at 37 to win a 25th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, his favorite major tournament that he has won ten times, starting on January 12 in Melbourne.
