Gael Monfils

From The Sydney Morning Herald: Monfils stretches the boundaries

HIS limbs seem to stretch like elastic and he has an incredibly powerful game. A 190kmh forehand, in fact, which he uses with mixed success to blast opponents off the court. But Frenchman Gael Monfils, with ankles that crack and shoes that break because of his rubber-limbed antics, is ultimately a showman.

He is known to do handstands and often does the splits in matches. He has twirled chairs around his head during games and always enjoys pumping his chest and screaming to fire up the crowd. He also likes to stick out his tongue.

"I don't want to be too serious," Monfils says...

Wimbledon Day 2 Upsets

21st seed Gael Monfils was ousted by Russian Igor Kunitsyn in 4 sets.

Augustin Calleri, the hotheaded (and adorable) Argentine who almost came to blows after a match over a mistranslation, took out 29th seed Paradorn Srichaphan on his favorite surface.

Mark Philippoussis took out 32nd seed Paul-Henri Mathieu in a 4th set tiebreak 14-12. How'd he do it? In style, with over 35 aces.

Veteran Jonas Bjorkman took out close friend and 12th seed Thomas Johansson, who's still on the comeback trail from a freak eye injury.

20th seed Dominik Hrbaty, he of the questionable vented pink shirt, fell to Italian Daniele Braccialli 2, 4 and 4.

ETA: Australian Open Venus-Slayer Tzvetana Pironkova took out seed 13th seed Anna-Lena Groenfeld in 6-1 in the third.

17th seed Maria Kirilenko ousted by Japanese veterna Shinobu Asagoe 6-2, 7-6(1).

Wonder who else will fall today...

FO Rematches at Queen's: Blake v. Monfils; Nadal vs. Hewitt, Tim vs. Dmitri

Well, this should be an interesting set of quarterfinals. I'm going to say that revenge takes the day and Henman, Blake and 3-time Queen's champion Hewitt win. What do you think? Does Nadal have a chance?

Also: Roddick over Srichaphan in a straight sets after a tiebreak first set, and Monfils upset Ljubicic. Up next, Roddick's got this week's ATP blogger, super-friendly Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Don't forget to check out the video highlights from the Queen's website.

Quote Round Up

This is literally yesterday's news, but here's a great round up of quotes from Monfils, Sharapova, Blake, Venus Williams, Dinara Safina and more.

The Men's Quarters are Set

Well, it was Ivan Ljubicic over Ramirez-Hidalgo, Rafael Nadal over a game Lleyton Hewitt, an injured Julien Benneteau over an injured Albert Martin, and coachless, agentless Novak Djokovic over a tired Gael Monfils. Do you give Djokovic and Benneteau a shot on Wednesday? I do.

Men's Preview: Monday

The official site's got a nice preview up, along with pretty good match summaries. I'm not a betting woman but I'm going to guess that Benneteau and Monfils ride the French wave into the quarters over Martin and Djokovic, that Hewitt gives Rafa a bit of a scare and that Ivan gets through Ramirez-Hidalgo.

ETA: Peter Bodo has a very nice close-up look at Monfils vs. Blake, part 2.

Monfils on the Norman & Murray Matches

Nice bit from the Washington Post on Monfils: France's Monfils Gives Paris Something to Cheer

This is a bit dated and it's on the official site, but--I just read it and it's very worth the read. Monfils talks about Murray as well as the pressure of playing for France at Roland Garros. There's video, too. Hugs, Gael.

Nalbandian Vs. Gasquet: 2nd Round

This will be today's marquee match up. Yesterday, you had your pick of that heartbreaker for Marat Safin against Fernando Gonzalez or the battle of the morose teens between Gael Monfils and Andy Murray. Nalbandian should cruise due to Gasquet's recent lack of form, but you can never discount the power of a home crowd and Gasquet's beautiful backhand.

Monfils over Murray

An uneven Gael Monfils took out a weary Andy Murray 6-1, in the fifth. Dave McPherson over at theworldoftennis.com has an in-depth look at Monfils' game. His greatest strength? Defense and court coverage. His liability: Shaky volleys and net play.

Entertaining Gael Monfils Videoclip

This isn't from this week, but I got a kick out of it.  I was poking around youtube this week and ran into this video of Gael  Monfils winning the paddle tennis title at the Las Vegas Open a few weeks back (naturally he lost in the first round of the real tennis that week).

Monfils Wins Paddle Tennis Title in Vegas

One of the more amusing stories of the week in Vegas.  Gael Monfils actually beat all the pros and won the whole paddle tennis tournament.

Two questions.  First, can you carry over confidence gained from paddle tennis to the real tennis court?  And next year, will all the ATP players enter the paddle tennis tournament?

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Frenchman captures paddle tennis title

Anyone can play. That's part of the title of a book published this week by 19-time paddle tennis world champion Scott Freedman -- "Paddle Tennis and Tennis: Anyone Can Play."

Those words were never more evident than in the paddle tennis world championships at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center, when a newcomer to the sport, 29th-ranked pro tennis player Gael Monfils, captured the crown.

Monfils, a 19-year-old Frenchman who won three of the four junior Grand Slams in 2004 and won his first pro event at Sopot in Poland last summer, upset second-ranked Daryl Lemon 7-5, 7-6 (5) in Sunday's paddle tennis world final just days after being introduced to the sport.

Monfils Having Better Luck in Paddle Tennis These Days

It's mostly been first round losses and injuries for Gael Monfils lately on the ATP tour, but it sounds like he's found a way to fill his time. 

I'm still not entirely sure what paddle tennis is, but this story cracked me up.   We know Monfils doesn't lack for talent!

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Monfils scores upset in paddle tennis

Scott Freedman has been playing paddle tennis for 38 years, has won 19 of the past 21 world titles and is known as the Roger Federer of the fast-growing sport.

Gael Monfils has been playing paddle tennis for only three days, since he was eliminated in the first round of the Tennis Channel Open, but the Frenchman was still able to stun Freedman 7-6 (7), 2-6, 6-1 on Thursday afternoon at the Darling Memorial Tennis Center.

Gael Monfils

From The Times: Monfils ready to rival Murray in courting glory

The French prodigy has an aggressive approach that has catapulted him into the world's top 25

GAËL MONFILS was asked if he had spotted a weakness in Roger Federer’s game during their set-to in the final of the Qatar Open in Doha on Sunday. “Speak up,” Andy Roddick chipped in. Monfils, smiling shyly, whispered “maybe a leetle beet”, but was unwilling to expand in a public forum...

It's Not All Glamour

After pulling out of the Paris Masters today with knee tendinitis, Gael Monfils had this to say to reporters about his off-season plans, "I will go on holiday, probably Martinique or Guadeloupe, and do every stupid thing I can like other 19-year-olds."

Monfils Strategy

How's this for strategy?  Gael Monfils jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead against Florian Mayer in the final at Sopot today, but Mayer came roaring back to take the first set to a tiebreak which was eventually won by Monfils.

Asked later how he managed to hang on to win the first set, he answered, "When Mayer was bouncing back in the first set, I kept thinking about a song called 'Un Monde Parfait' ('A Perfect World') and that helped me to stay in the match."

Whatever works.

Monfils a First Time Winner in Sopot

19-year-old Gael Monfils defeated Florian Mayer 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5 to win the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot today, his first ever ATP title. 

"It's my first victory but I hope that it's the first of many," said Monfils.

"I mustn't let it go to my head. I have to keep my feet on the ground and continue to work to achieve my aims."

And all this after Monfils was supposed to face Gaston Gaudio in the first round.  A good job by the teenager to take advantage of the opportunity.