He was the last hope and he did not disappoint. While all the other French (men and women combined) have already been eliminated from the Australian Tennis Open, Gaël Monfils, he managed to qualify this Saturday for the knockout stages of the tournament.
On the occasion of the first Grand Slam of the season (the four major tournaments that are the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open), the Frenchman got rid of the Latvian Ernests Gulbis. His hand injury due to a video game, a few days before the tournament, did not prevent him from triumphing in three sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.
🙅♂️ 𝕀ℂ𝕆ℕ𝕀ℂ 🙅♂️ @ Gael_Monfils returns to the second week at the #AusOpen for the first time since 2017, def. Ernests Gulbis 7-6 (2) 6-4 6-3. # AO2020 pic.twitter.com/shp89Oh8Wi
- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2020"I'm very happy with the way I played," said the 33-year-old Parisian before leaving the court, in words relayed by AFP. It is a great victory for Monfils. If he is 256th in the world today, his opponent managed to reach the semi-finals at Roland-Garros and tenth in the world in 2014.
It is the twelfth time in fifteen years that Monfils has found itself the last French representative in a Grand Slam tournament. Tenth in the world, he will challenge No. 5 Dominic Thiem in the 1/8 round.
The Austrian emerged victorious from the five previous duels which opposed them. Asked after his victorious four-set match against the American Taylor Fritz, he was delighted to face a player who "made the show".
"Even if you play against him on court it's great to see his show." @ ThiemDomi is all of us when it comes to his next opponent @Gael_Monfils 😁 # AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/YgNYEBb9Fg
- #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2020Among the other results of the day, the Spanish Rafael Nadal also validated his ticket for the round of 16. He left only seven games for compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta: 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
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