Gael Monfils is refusing to get carried away about his chances in the first grand slam of the season after experiencing a dream run at the Doha Open in Qatar.
The world No.46 returned to action earlier this week for the first time since September after being sidelined by a knee injury. At the Qatar tournament, where he has been runner up at on three previous occasions, unseeded Monfils battled his way to the final. Producing wins over Paolo Lorenzi, Jan-Lennard Struff and Peter Gojowczyk. He then received a bye in the semifinal after Dominic Thiem pulled out due to illness.
Taking on Next generation star Andrey Rublev in Saturday’s final, Monfils stormed to a 6-2, 6-3, win. Hitting nine aces and winning 79% of his first service points during the 61-minute clash. Earning Monfils his first title on the tour since the 2016 Washington Open.
”I‘m very happy,“ Monfils said. ”I like this tournament so much. I always come back and I finally got it. So I‘m just very happy and very proud.
“It’s been a while. I was waiting for that moment to get back in shape. In 2016, I was almost on my top and I had a very good year, finishing at six. I couldn’t really defend my chances in 2017. I had a long rest and came back strong in 2018.”
Monfils’ jubilation was Rublev’s disappointment. The 20-year-old was bidding to win his second career title on the ATP Tour, but struggled to find his A game to halt the momentum of his experienced rival.
“I think I was completely tired today,” Rublev told atpworldtour.com. “You can see that even my shots were not the same energy like previous matches. I was making a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong shots. You can see even I was really slow today on the court.
“Every time he was moving me to one side and most of the time it was almost over, or if I could catch one point then he was always killing me with the second. Of course I’m disappointed. It’s always tough to lose, especially in the final. Sometimes it’s even tougher to recover when you lose in the final than when you lose some semi-finals or first rounds.”
Australian Open beckons
As a result of his Doha triumph, Monfils is set to rise up the ATP rankings to 39th. A confidence boost ahead of the forthcoming Australian Open, which will start on January 15th. Still, the French player is downplaying his chances of a deep run at the grand slam. He is currently on course to be unseeded at the tournament for the first time since 2013.
“Australia is definitely something else,” the 31-year-old said during his press conference in Doha.
“It’s a Slam. I know it’s going to be tough because I won’t be seeded.”
“It’s been a while since I played without being seeded. It’s always an advantage in a Slam.”
“It’s going to be interesting to see the draw, where I will be. I know I can have a very tough first round.”
There is still a chance that Monfils could be seeded in the tournament. He has already risen up the ranks following the withdrawal of Kei Nishikori and Andy Murray. Should more players withdraw, he could creep into the top 32.
Monfils will be making his 44th appearance in the main draw of a major tournament later this month.
