We cannot say that he had not warned… A few hours before facing his nemesis Novak Djokovic in the 2nd round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, Gaël Monfils had set the scene (in which he always ends up when he faces the Serbian). “Earth or hard, it’s the same: he has a way of playing that I don’t like. Simply. He manages to find my weaknesses each time, summed up the French No. 1. Quite simply, he is stronger than me. When someone is stronger than you, they are stronger than you. You can beat him once, maybe twice, three times. I never really succeeded. But not many guys beat Usain Bolt! »
Still in search of rhythm after an almost virgin first quarter of matches, the world No. 1 did not spin at the speed of the Jamaican. But that was more than enough to dominate the Habs, who were playing their first clay-court tournament of the season in the Spanish capital. 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour and a half.
“He is solid! You still have to play a big game to beat him. The guy remains world number 1, blows Monfils. He has fewer wins than usual, but he still has a lot. Me, I didn’t make a final in Belgrade (Editor’s note: where Djokovic lost against Rublev). He is playing better and better. It was simple, effective. Me, I played an average game. It’s 6-3, 6-2. »
It was enough to improve a staggering statistic. 18th head-to-head and 18th defeat for Monfils, who had not faced the Serb on this surface for sixteen years. With this victory, Djokovic is guaranteed to stay a little longer on the throne of No. 1, for which he has already held the record for a long time. A feat by the world No. 21 would indeed have offered the place to Russian Daniil Medvedev, who is recovering from a hernia.
In a game that started in the open but quickly became indoors because of the rain, the Parisian nevertheless had two opportunities to make the break at the start of the match but committed far too many unforced errors (31) and quickly came up against the cold realism of the Belgradois (three break points converted out of three in total, zero out of five for Monfils), who has not lost against a French player on ocher since… 2005.
“I sinned a lot when it was up to me to be aggressive, summarizes the Monf. There are many opportunities that I have not been able to seize. He took risks on certain break points, it passed. I missed a lot. I went there and, each time, ten or fifteen centimeters too much. All of that, you have to keep working on. »
In the next round, Djokovic will face the winner of the match between his old rival, Andy Murray, who has a wild card, and the Canadian Denis Shapovalov. On Wednesday, it will be Rafael Nadal’s turn to return to the Spanish Central. The man with 21 Grand Slams, injured in the ribs, has not reappeared on the circuit since his defeat in the final of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells in March.