Tricolor tennis in celebration. Frenchman Gaël Monfils, 20th in the world, qualified for the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday by eliminating Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (77th) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 . The French number one, who had already reached the quarters in Melbourne (2016) without ever going beyond them, will face the Spaniard Pablo Carreno (21st) or the Italian Matteo Berrettini (7th) on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals. He remained on an elimination in the 1st round in 2021 which had plunged him into disarray.
“Matches like that, I can play four hours”
“It was really very hard… He was playing very fast on both sides. I tried to be very aggressive and it was just a long fight. Thanks to the support of the public, I won” , commented the 35-year-old Frenchman, before leaving the white-hot John Cain court with groups of very committed French and Serbian supporters. “It was not easy”, he then developed at the microphone of Eurosport. “At the start of the match, it was a little warmer, but afterwards it was humid. I always tried to get behind the ball so, physically, I took a hit. But, matches like that, I can play four hours.”
Monfils remained on an elimination in the 1st round in 2021 which had plunged him into disarray. “There was a big pandemic, it hurt me as a player, as a human, he said on Sunday. And it put a big brake on my career. Afterwards, (he there has been) a lot of work, a lot of perseverance, a lot of trust in my family, in my friends, in my team, my wife (Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina, editor’s note) now. Lots of discussions and above all a lot of hours on the field, a lot of questioning with the team.”
Second quarter-final appearance after 2016
“So far it’s working for me and I’m very happy with it.” The French number one, who had already reached the quarters in Melbourne (2016) without ever going beyond them, will face the Spaniard Pablo Carreno (21st) or the Italian Matteo Berrettini (7th) on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals. Before that, he wants to “try to recover, because I drew anyway”. “It’s been a long road (since 2016). I’m happy, but it’s not over. I’m not going to play this quarter like the previous one, I’m going to try to win it ‘in order’ to try to go for the first time in the semi-finals here”, he assured.
Whether the next opponent is Berrettini or Carreno, it will be “a big fight”, estimated Monfils, recalling that the Italian had beaten him twice in two meetings, notably in the quarter-finals of the US Open 2019 “7 -6 in the fifth set!” Their last opposition dates no later than the ATP Cup which opened the 2022 season: Berrettini won in straight sets.