VSalley of disillusion for Gaël Monfils. The French number 1 and 22and world player, very happy to start the season on clay a few days ago, announced on Monday May 16 that he would not participate in Roland-Garros (May 22-June 5) due to discomfort in his right heel which prevents him from moving on the court.
“I regret to announce my withdrawal from Open Parc de Lyon (this week, editor’s note) and from Roland-Garros next week. I have been hampered since Monte-Carlo by a calcaneal spur (bone growth, editor’s note) in my right heel which prevents me from moving on the court, ”explains Monfils in a message posted on Twitter. “I made the decision to make a small intervention in order to deal with the problem in order to be able to resume the tournaments as soon as possible”, he adds, without advancing a deadline for recovery.
This package is another blow to the already very slim chances of French tennis, in serious disrepair, for this 2022 edition.
Hello everyone, I regret to announce my withdrawal from the Open Parc de Lyon and Roland Garros next week. I have been hampered since Monte Carlo by a heel spurs in my right heel which prevents me from moving on the court.
— Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils) May 16, 2022
By way of illustration: Monfils was already absent in Rome last week and, for the first time in more than fifty years, no French player entered the main draw of the Italian tournament.
Gaël Monfils soon to be a dad
The Parisian, 35 and the only Habs in the top 40, had made a convincing start to the season by winning in Adelaide and advancing to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. But when the clay-court season opened in April, he gave up playing in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, already hampered by his foot. Then he gave up on Rome, claiming the “persistence of a heel injury”. Between the two, after “ten full days” of stoppage, he only played two games in Madrid, where he was stopped by world number 1 Novak Djokovic (6-3, 6-2) in the second round.
Gaël Monfils also announced on Sunday that his wife, Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, ranked 32and at the WTA, and were expecting their first child, a girl, in October.