Gael Monfils

[Kamileki]

W najlepszej formie w karierze jest Gael.

Elina go natchnęła.

[Mario]

Skończ trollować, Love, bo Cię zbanuję.

[Kamileki]

Skończ trollować, Love, bo Cię zbanuję.

A można admina zbanować?

[Mario]

Na pewno można spróbować.

[DUN I LOVE]

Ehh, miałem odrobinę nadziei, że się nabierzesz i sięgniesz po kolejną flaszkę z nerwów.

[Kamileki]

[arti]

Monfils extended his career-best winning streak to 12 matches ⁠— and 24 consecutive sets ⁠— with his 73-minute victory over Gasquet. He converted four of his 19 break point opportunities, as he improved to a 11-7 record against his countryman in their first meeting since 2018 Wimbledon.

The World No. 9 is looking to win his third straight title, following triumphs at the Open Sud de France (d. Pospisil) and ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (d. Auger-Aliassime). Monfils' only losses in 2020 have come against Djokovic at the ATP Cup and to eventual finalist Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/djokovi ... 0-thursday

[Del Fed]

[Kamileki]

[Del Fed]

[Kamileki]

[Lucas]

Monfils: 'Nothing Is Gifted, Nothing Is About Talent'

Spoiler:

With a settled personal life, the Frenchman is soaring once more

You can’t take your eyes off Gael Monfils, the flexible and athletic showman, capable of great creativity; or the honest, straightforward and friendly athlete off the court. In the presence of the softly spoken Frenchman, you realise not just how charismatic he is, but how hard he works.

“People think that we’re talented, gifted,” says Monfils. “Nothing is gifted, nothing is about talent, it’s about work. You work harder than everyone else. People mistake working and winning. You can work really hard and not win, not have the result you want. It’s tough. For all the players on the Tour [at ITF Futures, Challengers and the ATP Tour], they are working from a young age. I’m here now because I’ve worked hard, my parents worked hard and fought very hard to give me the possibility to one day play tennis at the top level.”

His face has covered sports magazines ever since he won three of the four junior Grand Slam championships in 2004; picked up his first ATP Tour title the following year at Sopot (d. Florian Mayer) and subsequently broke into the Top 25, earning the ATP Newcomer of the Year award. “I’ve been judged from a very young age, all the time, but people don’t know your situation: how you’ve been raised, your tennis,” says Monfils, who has a 10-21 record in ATP Tour finals. “It was a blessing for me to play tennis.


“From day one, I was different. I am different. I didn’t pay attention, but I play because I love the sport. I like being around athletes, I like track and field, football, basketball. I am a sportsman inside. I chose tennis because I played from a young age, along with football, judo and basketball. This was the sport that I felt the happiest playing.”

It’s been more than three years since Monfils scaled to a career-high No. 6 in the FedEx ATP Rankings on the back of 44-match wins and a place among the elite eight at the 2016 Nitto ATP Finals in London. Knee and wrist injuries mainly curtailed the court-time of the fans' favourite, but a second year-end Top 10 finish last season whetted his appetite once more. It’s no fluke that he started 2020 with a 16-3 record, including an 11-match winning streak and two ATP Tour titles: his third at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier and a successful defence of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. Only the elasticity of Novak Djokovic, in saving three match points at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, stopped Monfils from reaching his third straight final.

“The biggest part of the Tour is to have success back-to-back, week after week, that’s what we train for physically and mentally,” says Monfils. “I have been very solid, and I think I’m in great shape physically, moving great on the court, which helps my game. When you start to be a bit more confident, you go for your shots. My movement is the key, but that’s when I also try some shots in tough moments.”

Today, the 33-year-old has his sights set on maintaining his position in the Top 10, comfortable not only in his professional life but also with Elina Svitolina, the current World No. 5 on the WTA Tour and his girlfriend of the past 18 months.

“To share the same goals, the dedication and experience is something amazing,” he admits. “It’s a very individual, selfish sport, and most of the time we’re alone, but we appreciate the time we have together: at home or tournaments. I hope I help her, and when we practise together we laugh. Perhaps, I’m more serious when I hit with her, as I want to help Elina to achieve her goals.

“It’s a dream to win a Slam and being in the Top 5, even for one week, is a goal. So many players have the potential, but they struggle like me… I hope one day to have the opportunity.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/monfils-feature-2020

[Kamileki]

[Kamileki]

[Barty]

[Del Fed]

[arti]

[Kamileki]

[Del Fed]

Resurfaced | The Mystery Of Monfils: ‘You Never Know How & What I Can Do’

Spoiler:

Frenchman's love of tennis helps inspire both himself and fans worldwide
Editor's Note: ATPTour.com is resurfacing features to bring fans closer to their favourite players during the current suspension in tournament play. This story was originally published on 4 September 2019.

On the first Thursday of the 2019 US Open, Gael Monfils played the final match of the day on Court 17. On the scoreboard, the Frenchman beat Romanian Marius Copil 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. But nobody will forget the way the eight-time ATP Tour titlist punctuated his victory. After hitting a well-placed serve, Copil was only able to scrape back a high ball that landed inside the service box.

Monfils’ response? A 360-degree overhead smash, doing a complete turn in the air before slamming the ball away. The 33-year-old lost his balance as he fell down to the court, rolling onto his back with a big smile on his face. Even Copil cracked a smile before embracing the Frenchman.

“I didn't get offended. It was match point, it was an easy ball, close to the net. So if you have a chance to go for something crazy, why not?” Copil said. “Look how many people talked about it.”

When Monfils walks onto the tennis court, fans in the stands and around the world are treated to something more than a match. It’s also an experience. It's something people talk about. The World No. 13’s combination of talent, pure athleticism and embracing the atmosphere makes him one of the most entertaining players in the sport.

“I’m just myself on the court. I think people, they love me because I play with my heart, I fight,” Monfils said. “It's always something special with me. You never know how and what I can do on the court. I think that's why the people like that, a little bit a mystery part of me.”

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/gael ... view'>Gael Monfils</a> reacts in his third-round match at the 2019 <a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/ ... erview'>US Open</a>

What people may not know is that Monfils did not grow up glued to his television set dreaming of emulating a certain tennis player whom he was watching. The Frenchman actually didn’t watch tennis, but basketball.

“I used to definitely like [Allen] Iverson when he was young, Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman. Those guys, it was fun for me,” Monfils said. “I couldn't understand what they said because I couldn't speak English. My parents either. But just to see them doing what they were doing was great. That was cool.”

But now, Monfils loves tennis. Not only is he a fan of the sport, but he simply enjoys being out there. Some people may characterise Monfils as a performer — and he certainly entertains — but the Frenchman is just doing what is fun for him.

“Sometime haters would say or misunderstand how lucky I am to doing what I'm doing, to be healthy and play my sport and passion. For me, tennis is a sport, yeah, some people would say my job. It's my job, yes, but it's a sport. It's my passion,” Monfils said. “I can play with kids for hours. Playing Grand Slams for me is just a passion. When I'm on the court, it's a blessing.”

At the Coupe Rogers in Montreal last month, Monfils was playing Ilya Ivashka on an outside court as home favourites Felix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic battled on Court Central. You might have expected fans to focus on their Canadian hopefuls — which they did — but Monfils’ court was packed, and the Frenchman thrived off that energy, pumping himself up and visibly enjoying the atmosphere, even if it wasn’t the biggest court he’d competed on.

“It's an unbelievable feeling… it’s sometimes great to play [on a] smaller court, with the crowd very close. We can feel their energy, the passion, the love in it,” Monfils told ATPTour.com in Montreal. “I love it, to be honest. It's great.”

Monfils began working with a new coach, Liam Smith, this season. Smith had known the Frenchman from when he was a star junior, and had also gotten to know him during practices with his former charges in Miami. And he loves to see that enthusiasm from his player.

“It’s fantastic. He loves the sport. He loves to play, to compete. He loves the big stages and he has fun on the court. I think that’s something that’s always good for young players to see,” Smith told ATPTour.com. “One piece of advice that Gael will often give to juniors is, ‘Don’t take everything too seriously. Enjoy to play the game. Enjoy to play matches, to compete.’ He’s great for the sport of tennis because he engages the crowd, he has a lot of respect for his opponent and treats everybody really nicely.”


Not everything ended well in Montreal, though. After playing great tennis to reach the quarter-finals, Monfils battled past an in-form Roberto Bautista Agut. His semi-final against Rafael Nadal was scheduled the same day due to rain the day before, but Monfils withdrew due to an ankle injury.

That injury dated back to well before that ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Canada. A few days before his first-round match at Wimbledon, Smith says Monfils had a “very nasty” ankle twist. Initial scans showed it would heal reasonably quickly, and Monfils played his match against countryman Ugo Humbert. But after letting slip a two-set lead, he retired in the fifth set due to the injury.

Monfils’ training schedule entering the North American hard-court swing was cut short, and new scans showed things that had not come up before, meaning he needed more rest. So arriving in Montreal, there was already an injury risk as the tournament wore on.

“To come out and play Rafa an hour and a half, two hours later, was not really a realistic thing for him. Obviously with the potential injury risk and interestingly enough in the second set with Bautista Agut, he ran into the corner and just tweaked a little bit that same ankle. So with him, his medical team and myself, we decided that it was better to unfortunately skip that one, which was a shame because we would have liked to have played that match,” Smith said. “I would say it worked out well if we’re still here on Sunday, but in terms of how his body is now compared to how it was after that quarter-final in Montreal, yes, it’s worked out well."


Although Monfils lost in the first round of the Western & Southern Open after a quick turnaround, the Frenchman has found his footing here in New York, earning three of his four victories in straight sets, with the other being a thrilling five-set triumph against #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

Instead of suffering a letdown after that, Monfils wasted no time in dismissing the gritty Spaniard Pablo Andujar with the loss of just five games.

“Yesterday was great. His focus, his movement, his ball-striking quality and his ability to stick to the plan that we laid out from the beginning was exceptional. When Gael plays that well, it takes a very, very good player to beat him. There are not many that can,” Smith said. “Pablo is a very good player and has a great attitude and fought really hard, but Gael played such a good match and consistently played every point with a high intensity. It’s very tough for any player to deal with that. When Gael plays with that level of composure and focus and intensity, he’s very tough to beat and he has a chance against anybody in the world.”

Monfils will look to keep it going against rising Italian Matteo Berrettini on Wednesday on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Not only is it the biggest tennis stadium in the world, but it is also named after his idol. Monfils lives for these moments. It’s a chance to thrill thousands in person and millions across the world, with a spot in his second US Open semi-final on the line.

“You practise for that. You always dream to play in the Slam... big stadium. That's why we play tennis for,” Monfils said. “That's why I think it also brings the best out of me.”

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/gael-mo ... 19-feature

[Del Fed]