Currently 276th player in the world, he ousted one of the seeded players in this Masters 1000 in a good way to earn a place in the round of 16.
By HR with AFP Monfils brought down Tsitsipas, a real feat for the Frenchman © VAUGHN RIDLEY / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP Posted on 08/10/2023 at 08:08
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Gaël Monfils may be 36 years old and have fallen to 276th in the world, he keeps beautiful remains. The whimsical French player proved it in the most beautiful way during the Canadian Masters 1000 in Toronto, this Wednesday, August 9, beating the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-3 6-4).
It is Monfils’ first win against an ATP Top 10 for the first time since March 2022 and a win over then-world No. 1 Danil Medvedev at the Indian Wells Masters 1000. It is only his third success against one of the ten best players in the world since 2019.
Once again very supported by the Canadian public, Monfils achieved a controlled first set, in which he broke away at 4-2 after taking the serve of his opponent. He concluded with a shutout to pocket it 6-4.
Aggressive in forehand, he started the second set on the same basis, managing to break Tsitsipas from the start. He converted his second match point to win on the Greek service 6-3 in 1h 26min. Tsitsipas, yet winner of the tenth title of his career on Saturday at the ATP 250 tournament in Los Cabos, committed too many unforced errors and lacked serenity on his face-off to overturn the match.
350th success on this surface
“I knew that Stefanos [Tsitsipas] was very confident at the moment after his last tournament victory. So you had to hit hard, put in a lot and not let the game dictate to you, ”said Monfils after the match, when he left the court. In the first round, he had already put in a solid performance by dismissing Christopher Eubanks, 29th and recent surprise quarter-finalist at Wimbledon, 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (4/7), 6-1.
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By winning his 350th victory on hard surface, the Parisian confirms his return to form by therefore chaining a second consecutive tournament with two victories, a week after that of Washington. He will face American Sebastian Korda or Australian Aleksandar Vukic in the next round for a place in the quarter-finals.
2023-08-10 21:02:10
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