“I will not come to Paris.
Better not to go there than to go without conviction… ”A few hours after his abandonment in Vienna against Carreno-Busta, Gaël Monfils sounded the end of the season.
Flamboyant at the start of the year, the world No. 11 had not won a single match (0 out of 4) since returning to the circuit.
He delivered himself frankly this Tuesday during a small virtual press point.
"I do not have good feelings, I do not play tennis well, I have a discomfort in the service which had already earned me a lot of problems after the US Open last year, he explains. .
You had to cut the negative spiral, recharge your batteries, take a little time to start training again for the Australian Open earlier.
It's all mental.
I tense up, I can't relax myself, I'm contracted and I hurt myself while playing… ”Day and night with its first three months of 2020, punctuated by two titles (Montpellier and Rotterdam) and a half in Dubai against Djokovic.
“It's all the harder mentally because it was one of my best seasons, he blows.
This is the first time that I felt so strong
tennis
and physically at the same time.
I had assembled all the ends.
The fact of cutting a little, then for a long time, the fear of not knowing when we would resume… All of this made my level drop and my recovery did not help me.
I lost confidence right away.
When you are in a tournament, you are in a sort of bubble, impassive.
The confinement changed me psychologically like everyone else, made me see things differently and I did not come back as strong in my head.
"
"After confinement, I was a lot less fun"
After the Australian Open, Monfils had stopped working with his mental coach.
"I won't hide from you that I called him back quite a few times," he smiles.
I can't visualize myself well, be positive, I get frustrated as soon as I fail, I no longer manage to impose my rhythm and I only suffer.
I have no fire, I am sad.
I can't be happy because I can't produce, externalize, let go.
After confinement, I was a lot less fun, very focused on performance in training, which never happens to me.
Wanting to be a perfectionist too much, you arrive in a match, you double fault and behind you make 50 ... "
Now on vacation, the French n ° 1 is waiting to know the health conditions of the trip to Melbourne.
“The situation changes every week,” he observes.
I even had in mind to go there at the end of November, do my fortnight and my preseason there, but it's very complicated.
In addition, Elina
(Editor's note: Svitolina, his companion)
does not see herself leaving so early, so I have to review this option.
But we will try to find a solution… ”