It has been two years since he won a tournament. The French number 1, Gaël Monfils, won the final of the tournament in Adelaide, Australia, at the expense of Russian Karen Khachanov (29e), in two sets (6-4, 6-4) Sunday January 9, eight days before the Australian Open (January 17 to 30). Gaël Monfils, 35 years old and 21e world, had not won on the ATP circuit since the Rotterdam tournament (Netherlands) in February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic. This is the eleventh title of his career.
The French player then experienced immense difficulties in resuming the circuit in the midst of a health crisis, between closed doors and health constraints. Between September 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics last summer, he won only three matches, despite his association in early 2021 with Günter Bresnik, the former coach of Dominic Thiem in particular. He started to regain color in the second half of last season, until he reached the final in Sofia in October.
“Very proud and very happy”
“It’s our first title with my team. We had difficult times, but we came back strong in July last year ”, traced Monfils. “I am very proud and very happy to have won this tournament”, he added.
Monfils had completed 2021 on a forfeit during the Masters 1000 in Paris in early November, before his expected round of 16 against world number 1, Novak Djokovic. Victim of a muscle injury to the adductors, he said to himself at the same time “Frustrated” and happy to finish with a “Horrible year”, and had displayed his desire “To reach the top in 2022, with big entry results”.
So far it has been successful: in Adelaide, where he was seeded number 1 and started his season equipped with a new racquet, the French number 1 has not lost a single set in four matches played. On Sunday, he was particularly solid on serve and broke at the very end of the round in both sets to win in barely an hour and twenty minutes.
