How long will Novak Djokovic remain the only player to have beaten Gaël Monfils in 2025? At the age of 38 and after seven victories in a row, the Parisian takes on the mountain Taylor Fritz (4th in the world) on Saturday in the 3rd round of the Australian Open.
“It’s going to be very hard” to defeat the American, “in full swing”, admitted Thursday “La Monf” (41st) after his victory in the 2nd round against the German Daniel Altmaier (101st). “He already beat me here,” recalls the recent winner of the Auckland tournament, who even remembers the match point, “an incredible ace.”
The only confrontation between Monfils and the finalist of the last US Open was actually played on the blue hard courts of the first Grand Slam of the season. In 2019, the Californian won 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) in the 2nd round in Melbourne.
With six victories in a row, “I have been playing really well since the start of the year (…) I see no reason not to be confident,” said Fritz on Tuesday after his express victory in the first round against his compatriot Jenson Brooksby.
-Merciless since the start of the Australian Open, where he left only eight games to his first two opponents, the 27-year-old American must nevertheless be wary of his elder, on a series of seven victories in a row. Auckland and Melbourne.
A double semi-finalist in a Grand Slam, Monfils still knows how to surprise the best, like the four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz (3rd), beaten by the Frenchman at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati in the summer of 2024. By winning his 13th title in Auckland , Gaël Monfils became the oldest player since 1977 to win a tournament on the main circuit.
The third round of the Australian Open between Gaël Monfils and Taylor Fritz will be followed this Saturday, not before 3 a.m. French time, on the antennas of Eurosport, official broadcaster of the tournament.
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