In four hard-fought sets the No. 4 in the world has the better of Gael Monfils, the French magician and king of the Roland Garros evening matches
Since the French Open draw was revealed, a possible second round generational clash featuring Gael Monfils, the home hero, who played his first Roland Garros 20 years ago, and Jack Draper, the thriving 23-year old Brit, had appeared as a mouthwatering showdown.
During the early stages of the match the home favourite somewhat struggled to get ignited. Draper was dictating the rallies and broke in the third game
Monfils did earn a break back point with a passing shot down the line but Draper saved it with an acrobatic net play; after saving a second break point with his lefty serve & volley, he held and rushed off to pocket the set 63 with a second break.
Monfils went on shaking his head at his team box in the second set, looking dispirited till suddenly, in the fifth game something clicked and he started counterpunching Draper’s spinning and angled groundstrokes with insdious lofted balls, eliciting unforced errors. He grabbed a break and wasn’t to be stopped. An inside out forehand winner hit from three meters behind the baseline secured a second break. Trailing 52 Draper showed his grit and bounced back to 54. He was not able to bridge the whole gap, though. Monfils’ shots were now landing ever so close to the baseline, defusing aggression. Draper sprayed two wild forehands and Monfils levelled the match.
A dip in energy and adrenaline cost Monfils a break in the second game of the third set. It turned out to be fatal, for Draper cruised through his service games and took the set 63
Draper seemed to be on the verge of closing the match, when he had four break points in the first game of the fourth set. But Monfils dug his way out of the hole with an abrupt change of tactics, shortening the rallies and hammering winners off both groundstrokes.
He saved a further break point in the third game. So many missed opportunities took their toll. with the Brit overdoing dropshots, a point-reaping weapon in the first three sets, and conceding a break. Monfils, alternating aces, gags with his crowd and winners saved another three break points and hung on to his lead.
Serving for two sets at 54 all Monfils lost the momentum and Draper snatched the break back. He wasn’t yet safe, and had to save two set points before aligning with his opponent at 5 all for a final rush.
The eleventh game was like match highlights. Draper earned a break point with a forehand drop volley. Monfils staved it off with a smashing inside out forehand along the diagonal of the court. Draper then ended a spectacular 18-shot rally with an exquisite dropshot, which was the prelude to the break. He comfortably served out to win his first match on the Philippe-Chatrier 63 26 63 75.
The long and intense embrace of the two players was a moving epilogue.
“GaeI is someone I admire as a tennis player and off the court he’s nice, a joker, a magician, I hope he is able to play here again one more time in the future,” said Draper in the interview on court with Alex Corretja. “To play in front of big crowds, with crowds that are with me or against me, that’s the entertainment of tennis and that’s why I play tennis.”
Draper was willing to acknowledge the complexity of the challenge, when facing an opponent like Gael, who is able to deploy so many variations in his gameplay.
“My brain was fried out here. I’m not sure I’m going to go to sleep tonight. My brain is all over the place for what he was doing out here. That’s why he’s had such a successful career, why he’s loved by all the fans. I think the players love to watch him but not to play against him.
There were times I was very frustrated but there were times I reminded myself this is why I put in hard work. Playing with guys like Gael gets the best out of me.”
