Gaël Monfils, the French number 1, announced on Monday that he will not participate in the French internationals at Roland-Garros due to discomfort in his right heel which prevents him from moving on the court.
Missed. Gaël Monfils, French number 1 and 22nd player in the world, announced on Monday that he will not participate in Roland-Garros (May 22-June 5) due to discomfort in his right heel which prevents him from moving on the court. . “I regret to announce my withdrawal from the Open Parc de Lyon [qui a lieu cette semaine, ndlr] and Roland-Garros next week. I have been hampered since Monte-Carlo by a heel spur [excroissance osseuse] on the right heel which prevents me from moving on the court”explains Monfils in a message posted on Twitter. “I made the decision to make a small intervention in order to deal with the problem in order to be able to resume the tournaments as soon as possible”he adds, without advancing a recovery deadline.
Hello everyone, I regret to announce my withdrawal from the Open Parc de Lyon and Roland Garros next week. I have been hampered since Monte Carlo by a heel spurs in my right heel which prevents me from moving on the court.
— Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils) May 16, 2022
This package is another blow to the already very slim chances of French tennis, in serious disrepair, for this 2022 edition of Roland-Garros. By way of illustration: Monfils was already absent in Rome last week and, for the first time in more than fifty years, no French player entered the main draw of the Italian tournament.
The Parisian, 35 and the only tricolor installed in the top 40, had signed a convincing start to the season by winning in Adelaide and climbing to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. But when the clay-court season opened in April, he gave up playing in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, already hampered by his foot. Then he wrote off Rome, advancing the “persistence of a heel injury”.
In between, after “ten full days” stoppage, he only played two games in Madrid, where he was stopped by the world number 1, Novak Djokovic (6-3, 6-2), in the second round. His wife, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, ranked 32nd in the WTA, has also withdrawn from the French Grand Slam tournament.