Confusion has erupted concerning the current form of world No.17 Gael Monfils after the French Davis Cup captain confirmed he was omitted from the team due to his lack of fitness.
This weekend France will take on the Czech Republic in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. Two of the country’s top-3 players will be absent from the tie. Besides Monfils, Richard Gasquet will also miss the tie due to a back injury. Speaking to the media in France, team captain, Yannick Noah, has confirmed that Monfils wasn’t selected for the tie due to a lack of fitness.
“I spoke with Gaël on the phone. He arrived at Wimbledon short of physicality.” Noah was quoted saying by tennisactu.net.
“He said he is not 100% ready, even for training. It was not a chance I wanted to take. I hope he will be ready for the US tour.”
Monfils has recently missed a month of the tour due to illness. In May he was forced to withdraw from the French Open due to a viral virus. Prior to Roland Garros, he also withdrew from the BMW Open due to a groin injury. He returned to action at Wimbledon, but crashed out in the first round after losing in five sets to Jeremy Chardy.
Despite the current concerns, the Frenchman will still compete in next week’s Citi Open in Washington. Seeded third in the tournament, Monfils will be hoping to get his first win on the tour since his first round win over Kevin Anderson at the Madrid Open. It will be his first appearance at the tournament since 2011, when he finished runner-up to Radek Stepanek.
6 DAYS. @Gael_Monfils gearing up for the 2016 #CitiOpen 🎟 https://t.co/R4r2FoOIpH pic.twitter.com/SUBtzo07Nb
— Citi Open (@CitiOpen) 10 July 2016
The recent troubles for Monfils comes after what had been an encouraging start to the year. At the Australian Open he reached the quarter-finals for the first time in his career. The 29-year-old has also reached two finals on the tour this year in Rotterdam and Monte-Carlo. Monte-Carlo was Monfils’ first Masters final in five years after the 2010 Paris Open.
