Without splinters, the French number one is sure to finish the season in the Top 10 and the next generation is starved.
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This time, the public of Bercy did not attend the trick of Gael Monfils. Against Radu Albot in the round of 16, the French number one badly played, much redacted, camped three meters behind his line, but he had won. At the edge of the precipice against the Moldavian (he led a set and break), he recognized his hold-up (4-6, 6-4, 6-1): "I have to lose ten times the set, it's the magic of Paris. "
Friday 1st November, a well-inspired Canadian hit him with the "Shapo". In less than an hour, Denis Shapovalov pulled out all his panoply: a whirlwind tornado with one hand sometimes crossed, sometimes long line, a burst of winning shots and a lead service. The young wolf (20 years old) had fangs and brutally brought him back to reality.
The Parisian at the same time saw him slip between his fingers the last sesame for the Masters of London (November 10-17), high mass that brings together the eight best players of the season. In this case, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini. Monfils will still travel to London, but as a second substitute.
"My goal was to finish in the 10s, of course there was a cherry on the cake … But it was too hard. I will not say that I am relieved, I am tired. I have to rest a lot, a lot … ", he managed to articulate between two sighs on Friday night.
Smothered by the challenge of being in the Top 10
Same issue, but speech radically opposed in his compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, defeated an hour and a half later by Rafael Nadal at the same stage (7-6, 6-1). He does not really want to leave the racket aside during his holidays: "It's like old cars, do not want them to stay in the garage because otherwise they will not restart. I try to run the engine a bit all the time, otherwise it's complicated, " image Le Manceau, all smiles.
On Wednesday, after his victory over Benoît Paire, Monfils had longed for a press conference that took the form of a session on the couch. "I'm going to be super honest, I'm pretty often. From Asia, I'm dead. I died physically and mentally. I stressed myself on a lot of things. " More than a qualification at the Masters, he absolutely wanted to finish the year in the Top 10, where he has not appeared since early 2017. The stake has stifled until asphyxiation.
