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#lamonfstory follows Monfils' in Miami
Gael Monfils show most facets – if not all – of his likable personality in #lamonfstory, a new web series that documents Monfils' rehab and recovery from a right-knee injury in 2017.

The Frenchman is serious, discussing how he has drawn inspiration from Roger Federer's own comeback from his knee injury. Monfils is playful, sprinting around the court and shouting after a point in practice. He is also focused, practising intensely with Grigor Dimitrov in South Florida.

“I feel it. I feel it's back,” Monfils tells his coach Mikael Tillstrom while practising with Dimitrov.

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Episode One


After his best year in 2016, when Monfils reached a career-high of No. 6 and qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time, he struggled with injuries for much of 2017. The three-part series chronicles Monfils' comeback and his passion for the sport.

The 31-year-old seems fully recovered, judging by his strong play. He has started the new season 5-1, winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title in Doha (d. Rublev). Monfils fell to Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open.

Next, Monfils plans to head to South America for the “Golden Swing”, entering the Ecuador Open in Quito, the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, the Rio Open presented by Claro and the Brasil Open in Sao Paolo.

Episode Two


Episode Three

Doha champion starts his campaign against #NextGenATP Ruud or Berlocq
Touching down in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito to play the Ecuador Open for the first time in his career, there was something different about Gael Monfils.

Having started off his 2018 campaign with a title at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and pushing Novak Djokovic to four sets in a grueling second-round encounter at the Australian Open, there’s reason to believe Monfils has turned the page on an injury-marred 2017 and is approaching the new season with renewed determination and focus.

Oh, and a new hairstyle.

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The Frenchman, who is known for both his showmanship on court and his vibrancy off it, met the press ahead of his first tournament appearance in Quito, debuting his new golden locks.

“To be honest with you, the day before I came here I [went] to my hair dresser just to fix my dreadlocks and I was talking with [her] and she said, ‘Why don’t we do a colour’?” recounted the 31-year-old. “I call my girlfriend and I call my agent and everybody said no. So I said, ‘Okay, I’ll do it’!

“So I stayed there for five hours to get that colour,” Monfils added. “It was very challenging and a great experience. In the end, I like it, it’s fun. Sometimes we need to do some crazy things, and I [said] if I have time to get back home I can put it dark for my girlfriend again.”

monfils
Monfils played with the Mayor of Quito, Mauricio Rodas, for 15 minutes on Saturday.
The third-seeded Monfils will encounter a host of other challenges in Quito this week, including red clay during a period of the season in which he has historically favoured Europe’s indoor hard courts and the tricky high-altitude conditions of a tournament played 2,850 metres above sea level.

“You know it’s always challenging, every week is challenging. This week is another challenge. I always go with different challenges. This one because it is in altitude and it’s a different type of tennis; but I’m scared of nobody,” said the seven-time ATP World Tour titlist.

"I love to play on clay courts. It’s just a matter to fix myself with the altitude, then I think it’s going to be a great week for me.”

Monfils will open against #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud or Argentinean veteran Carlos Berlocq — and if he’s up to the challenge this week, the Frenchman might just walk away with a trophy as bright as his new golden crown of hair.


Estrella Burgos Seeks Four-Peat

In each of the Ecuador Open’s first three years, the same player has raised the trophy: Victor Estrella Burgos.

The native of the Dominican Republic will face Thomaz Bellucci in the first round — it is the fourth straight year they have met at the event (2015 SF, 2016 F and 2017 SF). Estrella Burgos has only made three singles finals in his ATP World Tour career — all in Quito — and has won each time.

If the 37-year-old hopes to add another trophy to his collection, he may have to play Monfils in the semi-finals.

“I really like challenges. I know Victor [Estrella Burgos] won three times,” Monfils said. "I will try to win my first round and then see if I can challenge him – why not?”

The top seed is World No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta, who will face Rogerio Dutra Silva or a qualifier in the second round.

Bedene and Delbonis to meet for spot in Buenos Aires final

Dominic Thiem had never lost a match at the Argentina Open (7-0) heading into Friday evening's quarter-final against home favourite Guido Pella. And while the left-handed Pella produced an inspired performance, the World No. 6 moved into the semi-finals with a 7-6(7), 6-4 victory.

It could be déjà vu for Thiem, who is now within two matches of winning his first clay-court event of the season for the third year in a row.

After saving five set points prior to the first-set tie-break, Pella earned two set points of his own at 6/4. But Thiem simply was too good in the key moments, earning his 10th tour-level triumph of the campaign. The Austrian will face an in-form Gael Monfils, who saved three of five break points he faced to defeat Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

The Frenchman is pursuing his second tour-level title of the season, and will look to turn around what has been a lopsided FedExATP Head2Head rivalry with Thiem. The top seed has triumphed their three clashes.

Monfils and Thiem were scheduled to play earlier this season in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open semi-finals, but the Austrian was forced to withdraw due to a fever. The Frenchman would go on to claim his seventh ATP World Tour title. Thiem is attempting to continue a streak of three straight seasons with at least one trophy.

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On the bottom half of the draw, Aljaz Bedene will look to advance to his third ATP World Tour final (2015 Chennai, 2017 Budapest) after upsetting fifth seed Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4.

The Slovenian extended his record to 2-0 against Schwartzman in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Bedene will play the fifth tour-level semi-final of his career on Saturday, and just his second outside of Chennai (2012, 2015, 2016).

On the other side of the net will be two-time ATP World Tour titlist Federico Delbonis, who battled past 34-year-old Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 7-5 in one hour, 25 minutes.

It is the first time that the left-hander has battled past the quarter-finals at the tournament, after losing in the final eight twice before (2013, 2015). Delbonis leads the pair’s FedEx ATP Head2Head series 1-0, with their only tour-level meeting coming at 2012 Barcelona.

Did You Know?
Thiem has lost a set 1-6 against Monfils in two of the three meetings in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but eventually won each of those matches.
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Buenos Aires
Dominic Thiem
2018
Match Report

Delbonis earns his 100th tour-level victory

Could a Gael Monfils match possibly end quietly? It looked that way as Horacio Zeballos led 5-2 in the third set of their first-round encounter at the Rio Open presented by Claro on Tuesday evening. The Frenchman even faced match point as the left-hander served for the match at 5-3.

But Monfils would find his entertaining best to win the final five games of the match to clinch a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory against the Argentine.

"It was a tough match for me," Monfils said. "I never stopped believing and definitely had a huge help with the crowd. The crowd was amazing tonight."

The recent Qatar ExxonMobil Open champion, who also advanced to the semi-finals at the Argentina Open last week, is now five-for-five in opening-round matches this season. He continues his pursuit of a second title in 2018 — if he wins another trophy this year, it will be the first time Monfils has won multiple titles in an individual season.

But more immediately, ‘La Monf’ set up a blockbuster second-round battle against top seed and World No. 3 Marin Cilic, who advanced on Monday. Monfils has won both matches in their FedEx ATP Head2Head, including a meeting less than two years ago in Rio at the Olympics.

"I want to play better," Monfils said. "Obviously I need to play better if I want to win tomorrow... Tomorrow I hope I'm going to raise my level a little bit."

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Defending champion Dominic Thiem, who triumphed last week at the Argentina Open, also got off to a good start with a much simpler 6-2, 7-5 victory against Dusan Lajovic. The 24-year-old Austrian is once again off to a hot start on the red clay after he began last year's clay season by winning 10 of his first 11 matches.

"The main thing today is that I won," Thiem said.

The second seed, who has now won an ATP World Tour title in four consecutive seasons, will look to extend his winning streak to seven in the second round against Pablo Andujar, who he beat at the same event two years ago. That was the pair's only FedEx ATP Head2Head series meeting.

Third seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who lost in his first match at his past two events (Quito, Buenos Aires), got back on track by defeating qualifier Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 6-1 in 64 minutes. That evens the Spaniard’s tour-level record for the year (4-4) as he attempts to defend finalist points from Rio de Janeiro last year (l. to Thiem).

Sixth seed Diego Schwartzman moved on when #NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud retired down 1-4 in the opening set. The Argentine next plays someone who will certainly be riding high on confidence.

Delbonis

His opponent, Federico Delbonis, captured his 100th tour-level win when Czech Jiri Vesely retired down 2-6, 2-3.

"It means a lot," Delbonis said. "To have 100 match wins, it's a big challenge and I'm so happy to reach it."

Nine of the Argentine’s victories have been against opponents inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. The left-hander is in-form, too, having made the semi-finals in Buenos Aires last week (l. to Bedene).

Did You Know?
Pablo Andujar, the former World No. 32, won his first tour-level match since January 2016 on Tuesday.

Frenchman survives set point to complete rain-interrupted win over top seed
A little frustration from Gael Monfils would be no surprise after rain postponed overnight the completion of his second-round victory over top seed Marin Cilic at the Rio Open presented by Claro. The unseeded Frenchman had already let a match point slip the day before against the Croat and faced a set point after the resumption of play on Thursday.

Fortunately for Monfils, however, the pair returned to court for just four more points, as he completed the upset on his second match point, 6-3, 7-6(8). The win extends Monfils’ FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Australian Open finalist to 3-0. He had beaten Cilic once before in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympic Games.

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Next up, he faces Argentine sixth seed Diego Schwartzman for a semi-final berth. Monfils won the pair’s only prior clash at Roland Garros three years ago.

“I don't think I feel very good, it's not about numbers,” Monfils said. “I think I'm not in my best shape yet, I'm fighting for every point. Tomorrow will be a great match, Schwartzman is a very fast player. I will have to play more aggressive.”

Second seed and defending champion Dominic Thiem was earlier handed a comfortable passage through to the quarter-finals when his opponent, Spain’s Pablo Andujar, retired trailing 2-4 with a right shoulder injury. The Austrian will take on another Spaniard in the quarter-finals after Fernando Verdasco rebounded strongly for a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0 win over Argentine Nicolas Kicker.

“Never played him on clay, only on grass and fast hard court last year at Bercy [Paris],” Thiem said. “It’s going to be very tough. He’s fit and he’s fresh as we saw today. He played a long match... I have to watch out that I am the one dictating the game because once you let him dictate with his forehand, the point is almost over.”

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The 2015 runner-up and No. 5 seed Fabio Fognini prevailed in a three-set thriller against American Tennys Sandgren 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). The Italian will next meet Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene, a player he owns a perfect 7-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against.

Watch Hot Shot: Fognini Scrambles For Winning Lob


Bedene continued his impressive form of late with an upset of No. 3 seed Pablo Carreno-Busta, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2. The World No. 43 reached his third ATP World Tour final last week in Buenos Aires where he fell to Thiem.

“Never easy to face someone that defeated you in all seven matches,” Bedene said of facing Fognini. “But this time I'm playing better. I have been playing some really good tennis and now I have my best ranking on ATP … so, yes, I consider this the best moment of my career.”

Seventh seed and 2016 champion Pablo Cuevas booked an all-South American quarter-final against Chilean Nicolas Jarry. The Uruguayan saw off lucky loser Gastao Elias of Portugal 7-5, 6-1.

Frenchman sets second-round meeting with 2012 finalist Isner
Gael Monfils began his 10th appearance at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on a positive note, defeating Australia’s Matthew Ebden 6-3, 6-3 on Friday.
The 31-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals in 2016 (l. to Raonic), broke Ebden on four occasions, and came back from 0-2 down in the second set, to secure the 71-minute win. The Frenchman improves his 2018 win/loss record to 12-5, highlighted by his seventh title on tour in the first week of the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha (d. Rublev).
Monfils isn't accustomed to playing first-round matches in Indian Wells – the Frenchman has had a first-round bye his past five appearances in the desert (2017, 2016, 2014, 2010, 2009). But Monfils' ATP Ranking has slipped to No. 42, and he's prepared to do the work to get closer to his career high of No. 6. “It's just the fact... You can't change a fact,” Monfils said. “I have to make it better.”
After spending the past four weeks playing on clay in South America during the “Golden Swing”, Monfils adjusted well enough to advance against Ebden.
“The ball [was] flying quite a lot. It was not easy to adapt but today was just lucky to get the win and in straight sets is always good. I will be focused for the next one,” Monfils said.
He will face World No. 18 John Isner in the Round of 64. The World No. 42 leads the American 5-4 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with four wins in their past five meetings. Their most recent encounter occured 12 months ago in Indian Wells, with Monfils recording an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory to reach the Round of 16.
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Ernesto Escobedo scored his first win in Indian Wells, defeating Delray Beach Open champion Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-3 in 82 minutes. The 21-year-old, who had beaten Tiafoe in both of their previous meetings on the ATP Challenger Tour, won 68 per cent of his service points and broke the #NextGenATP contender three times to reach the second round. The wild card, who had lost in the first round of qualifying in the past two seasons, now moves into a Round of 64 encounter against 28th seed Feliciano Lopez.
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Marcos Baghdatis hit 15 aces and recovered from 2-4 down in the third set to beat Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 7-5, 3-6, 7-5. The Cypriot, who reached the quarter-finals 12 years ago in 2006 (l. to Nadal), notched his fifth win of 2018 and will next face Rio Open champion Diego Schwartzman. Portugal's Joao Sousa snapped a four-match losing streak to beat Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4). Sousa had trailed by a set and a break, but recovered in style before clinching the win in a final-set tie-break after two hours and 39 minutes.
Did You Know?
Monfils’ result at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, in the first week of the season, continued the Frenchman’s final appearances streak. Monfils has reached at least one final in each of the past 14 seasons, dating back to 2005.