Gael Monfils was inches to finally beat Novak Djokovic in Dubai. The Frenchman was coming from a 0-16 win-loss record against Novak (1-16 considering futures tournaments) and he was in firm command of his match against the Serbian in the Emirates. However, at first, Gael couldn’t hold to a good 1-set and 1-break-up lead. Then he had 3 consecutive match points when leading 6-3 in the second set tiebreak, but he wasn’t able to convert any of them before succumbing in the following 3rd set.
Monfils was coming from a great run in February after winning 2 consecutive tournaments in Montpellier and Rotterdam. After losing to Djokovic, Gael posted the following message:
“I can t beat u my friend @djokernole ,but always a big pleasure to play against you.You are a big champion in many ways and u showed it again tonight🙌🏾.
I would like to thank everybody for the support in this past 4weeks. Those weeks been very good, let’s keep it up that way.”
Next tournament for him: Indian Wells.
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Gael Monfils’s ranking and performance in 2020
Currently the world no.9, the French Player played his last match on the 28th of February when he surrendered to Novak Djokovic 2-6 7-68 6-1 in the semifinal in Dubai.
Currently, this season Gael has a 16-3 win-loss record. Monfils conquered 2 titles in 2020 in Montpellier and in Rotterdam.
Djokovic in Dubai, ranking, and results in 2020
Now the world no.1, Novak has a 17-0 win-loss record in 2020. Novak is now competing in Dubai where he defeated Malek Jaziri 6-1 6-2, Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-1, Karen Khachanov 6-2 6-2 and Gael Monfils 2-6 7-68 6-1.
Novak Djokovic will take on Tsitsipas in the final. The head to head is 2-2.
Novak has won 2 titles in 2020 in ATP Cup and at the Australian Open.
Djokovic won 79 titles in his career: 46 on hard courts, 14 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Gael Monfils and Novak Djokovic played each other 17 times. The head to head is 17-0 for Djokovic.
The last time that they competed against each other, Novak Djokovic won 2-6 7-68 6-1 in the semifinal in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships) on the 28th of February 2020.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
