Duels between compatriots are often complicated, the oldest remember for example a rather soporific duel one year at Rolannd Garros between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clément.
In Australia, no one fell asleep in the stands, it must be said that the Monf like Giovanni sent missiles quite regularly on their service. It was Gael who got off to a more convincing start by winning the first two rounds (6−3, 7–6). He should have completed this server duel at 3th but Giovanni achieved the small feat of saving two match points in a breathtaking tie‐break.
Two hours later, the two men were going to offer a 5th sleeve. In this decisive set, Monf broke from the start and seemed more physically fit. Winner in 5 sets, Gaël confirms his superb start to the season (7−6 (7), 6–3, 6–7 (6), 6–7(5), 6–4).
Note a statistic which perfectly sums up this duel, Giovanni never obtained the slightest break point on his opponent’s serve. Now, we just hope that Monf will recover because he has made a lot of effort since the start of the year.
-It’s also his 20th victory in 5 rounds for Gaël Monfils, what a career!
Published on Tuesday January 14, 2025 at 07:31
