After a 2012 season marred with career threatening injuries, Gael Monfils seems to have rediscovered some of his vintage form just in time for the upcoming French Open. These past two weeks the Frenchman achieved two very promising results, winning the Challenger in Bordeaux and then reaching the ATP final in Nice, both on home soil. However, he is still fighting the same old demons that have prevented him from unleashing his full potential.
Monfils is a great tennis player. He is the ultimate athlete, he has big shots, he is confident and gutsy, so he can beat literary anyone on a given day. Unfortunately though he is lacking the mental strength to capitalize on the big opportunities. His record in career finals speaks a great deal about this weakness: out of the 18th finals he played, the Frenchman won only four, losing frequently to lower ranked, accessible opponents. It was the same exact scenario in Nice where he faced Albert Montanes in the grand finale. It's true that the Spaniard holds a positive record in their head-to-head, nevertheless Monfils is a former top 10 player who still fancies his chances at a Grand Slam crown. To lose a bagel set, in a final, in front of your home crowd, against a player who only won back-to-back tour-level matches just once in nine events this seasons denotes either lack of focus, or terrible nerves. In Gael's case, I think it's a fatal combination of both. Although he showed some guts in the second act, fighting back from a break down, the Frenchman was unable to level the dispute, losing a poorly played tie-break to gift Montanes an unexpected sixth career title. This final marked another missed opportunity for the recovering Frenchman.
The toughest test though for Monfils awaits him in an intriguing first round clash with Czech Tomas Berdych at this year's Roland Garros. This is a 'make it' or 'break it' moment that could potentially influence the remaining of the season, so he needs to win that match to turn his fate around.
photo: Yohan Brandt
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