Monfils, 21st in the world and seeded No. 1, continued his good week of comeback in the semi-final of Adelaide at the expense of the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (171st), beaten 7-5, 6-0.
In previous rounds, the 35-year-old Frenchman got rid of Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo (90th) 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes, then American Tommy Paul (43rd) 6-4, 6- 1 in 69 minutes.
From the first exchanges in 2022, Monfils is thus guaranteed to play at least one final for the 18th consecutive season (since 2005). This will be his first on Australian soil.
Nadal in the final in Melbourne
For his return after five months without competition and eight days before the start of the Australian Open (January 17-30), Rafael Nadal qualified for the final of the ATP 250 tournament in Melbourne on Saturday, beating Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori (95th world), in two sets (6-4, 7-5).
The number 1 seed will face in the final the American sensation Maxime Cressy (112th world), who dismissed Grigor Dimitrov earlier in the day.