Gael Monfils admitted on the eve of his semifinal with David
Ferrer that, "with me, you never know what will happen".
What happened at the Heineken Open today was a huge
disappointment as the show-stopping Frenchman folded 6-1 6-2
in just 48 minutes to the world No 5 and two-time defending
champion.
It all went horribly wrong when Monfils woke up and realised
he felt sore. After a two-hour epic against third seed Tommy
Haas the night before, on top of a three-setter earlier in
the week, the 26-year-old had nothing left in the tank.
When he strained a thigh in the third game of the match, it
was essentially all over. Monfils was beaten physically and
mentally.
"I think David was too strong for me today," said Monfils,
who called for the trainer twice in the first set. "It was
very tough. I was tired, my legs were sore so it was, for me,
very hard to compete and very hard to stay with the fighting
spirit because I know even when I am not tired it's going to
be a physical game [against Ferrer].
"When you are strong physically, you are strong mentally.
It's a big weapon when you know you can run for three hours
and have no drop. It makes you feel like it's impossible to
beat you."
Ferrer didn't need to do much more than get the ball back
today and it was a massive disappointment for the capacity
crowd at Stanley St who had all hoped to see a continuation
of the Monfils stage show. In many ways his thrashing was
just that because he has epitomised this week the true
meaning of the term wildcard, which he needed to play at the
Heineken Open.
But he can also play a bit, and it has given him
encouragement that he can recapture the sort of form that saw
him rise to No 7 in the world in 2011.
He dazzled with his repertoire of shots, court coverage and
big serve and, incredibly, saved 25 of 28 break points
against him before his blowout against Ferrer.
He showed his game is still in good shape, he just needs a
body to match it after missing three-and-a-half months with a
knee injury last year.
"I think for two weeks in a row I have had tough matches, no
pain," Monfils said. "I think physically I am getting better
and better. I think things are going good and hopefully we
can keep going like this. I have no doubt that if I keep
going this way, I will be back [near the top] soon."
He's also vowing to return to the Heineken Open, which is
good news. What the crowd will get is difficult to predict.
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