The party is over. A little black pudding water. Gaël Monfils’ epic journey to the antipodes ended with his retirement in the round of 16 of the Australian Open against the American Ben Shelton, 20th in the world (7-6 (3), 6-7 (3) 7-6 (2), 1-0). Despite the unconditional support of the public at the Margaret Court Arena, the Parisian, 38, no longer had much juice after eight victories in a row between his title in Auckland and his great first week in Melbourne.
After conceding the first set on a final double fault in the deciding game, the Habs managed to come back to the level of the Atlanta native, even managing to break the match by being the first to break at the start of the 3rd set. But the strong and fiery left-hander, semi-finalist of the 2023 US Open and 16 years younger than Ile-de-France, was far too fresh.
Victim of a big drop in performance, “la Monf” had nothing left in the tank after two and a half sets. “He had played a lot of difficult and long matches and I wanted to toughen up the match, make it a physical match,” explains Shelton. Find the balance between finishing the points at the net (where there is still room for improvement) and imposing long rallies on him. He managed to hold on by serving very well. This guy is still a nightmare to play. »
After being knocked out with winning forehands in the tie-break of the 3rd set and broken at the start of the 4th, the dean of the Blues, at the end of his rope, preferred to throw in the towel.
-Small consolation for the Habs, Elina Svitolina, who did not miss a single moment of the match in her box, was invited to the final big eight by beating the Russian Kudermetova (6-4, 6-1), matching her performances of 2018 and 2019. If Mr Monfils insists on the role of their little Skaï in his end-of-career energy, Mrs Monfils recalled to what extent she is “responsible for bringing a little glimmer, a little victory” to his fellow Ukrainians affected by the conflict against Russia.
“I sometimes have the impression that people forget that the war is still there, that we still need help,” explains the world No. 27, who signed “The Spirit of Ukraine” (“the spirit of Ukraine”). of Ukraine”) on the camera at the end of the match. For me, it’s very important to show that I’m here to fight no matter what, I want to embody that fighting spirit. Waking up and learning that your friends are dying on the front line, killed by Russian soldiers, is something that weighs heavily on me. » In the next round, the former No. 3 at the WTA will face the American Madison Keys.
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