He may be in the form of his life. The French Gaël Monfils, phoenix of world tennis, brilliantly qualified for the round of 16 of the Australian Open by dominating the American Taylor Fritz in four sets – (3-6, 7-5, 7-6 [1]6-4) -, Saturday. Without firing a shot and with an atomic service, a sign of his newfound confidence, even after 38 years.
Two French people in the round of 16
A makeover in Oceania that owes nothing to chance. Happy father of little Skaï born in 2022, in love as on the first day with the mother, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, also qualified for the round of 16, Gaël Monfils has resolved the physical problems which had plagued him the last two seasons. Beaten by Novak Djokovic, his bête noire, in Brisbane, he has since won the Auckland tournament before qualifying for the second week of a Grand Slam tournament, which he had not achieved since 2022, already in Australia.
So we start dreaming. Even if Jannik Sinner is a formidable world number 1 – in the Race, it is Gaël Monfils (yes yes) who is in the lead – the table is more open since the retirements of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic is finally starting to look (a little) his age. To reach the final four and challenge the Italian, Gaël Monfils will have to defeat the American Ben Shelton, 20th player in the world, then the winner of Sonego – Well, nothing inaccessible. And if the “Monf” succeeds in the feat of doing so…
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