2023-08-09 22:26:11
Decidedly, the air of North America gives colors to Gaël Monfils. At the heart of a 2023 season marred by injuries, the Frenchman seems to be finding the right rhythm. After being eliminated in the round of 16 last week in Washington, where he had won two games in a row for the first time this year, the 276th player in the world has just signed his best performance of the year by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas , seeded n°4, this Wednesday, at the Masters 1000 in Toronto (6-4, 6-3).
Powerful and enterprising, Monfils (36) dominated the debates without contest, taking advantage of the countless faults in the forehand of the Greek, particularly borrowed. Even if the French still delivered some pralines of which he has the secret, including a forehand flashed at 188 km / h, the meeting never reached the heights of emotions and spectacle of the previous round where Monfils had ignited the public with exceptional shots against the American Christopher Eubanks (7-6, 6-7, 6-1). The Frenchman, who won on his second match point, equalized at 2 everywhere in his clashes with Tsitsipas. Here he is in the round of 16.
In the next round, the one who reached the semi-finals of this tournament in 2016, before doing the same at the US Open a few weeks later, will face the winner of the match between the American Sebastian Korda and the Australian Alexandrar Vukic. The other Frenchman hired on Wednesday, Ugo Humbert, was eliminated by the American Taylor Fritz (7-6, 3-6, 6-3).
“On the first match point, I could have dropped one more forehand but I had to stay calm, not panic, I succeeded,” said Monfils after the match, enjoying playing in hot and humid conditions. “I knew that Stef was very confident after his victory in the tournament (in Los Cabos, Mexico), I had to shake him up, hit hard so as not to let the game dictate.” Mission accomplished.
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