The current focus of Gael Monfils might be on the hard-courts at the upcoming Dubai Tennis Championships, but isn’t sidetracking him from his ultimate goal, the French Open.
This year marks the ninth anniversary of Monfils’ best ever result at Roland Garros when he stunned fifth seed David Ferrer to reach the semifinals as a unseeded player in 2008. Since then the Frenchman has been unable to reproduce his heroics in Paris, reaching the quarter-final stage three times, most recently 2014.
Fortunately, an encouraging display in 2016 provides Monfils with the hope he can once again go deep in the French Open draw and even become the first first French man to reach the final at Roland Garros since Henri Leconte in 1988. Last year he achieved a ranking best of 6th in the world at the age of 30 and reached the semifinals of the US Open.
“It’s a dream to play well there (Roland Garros) and win, that’s definitely a big goal of mine to perform great there,” he told Gulf News.
“Last year I missed it, so this year I definitely have expectations on myself.
“Home support definitely helps, but also [I raise my game there] because it’s the highest goal I have in tennis.”
Leading up to the next grand slam of 2017, Monfils hopes to grab a confidence boost on the tour. His next tournament will be at the Dubai Open in what will be his first appearance there since 2008. He will be seeded fourth in the tournament behind Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer.
“If I play good here (in Dubai), it’s a strong field, with good names and you will build a lot of confidence. That will help through the season, my goal is pretty much the same as last year to play consistent and try to catch a big title at the end.” Monfils explained.
Heading into Dubai Monfils has a win-loss record of 6-2 in his first two tournaments of the season. At the Australian Open he succumbed in the fourth round to Rafael Nadal. Then at the Open 13 in Marseille, where he was the top seed, Monfils crashed out to compatriot Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals.
Monfils will kick-off his Dubai campaign against wildcard Mohammad Safwat on Sunday. Cautiously optimistic ahead of his first round clash, the world No.12 has declared his fitness ‘100 per cent’.
