We couldn’t believe that. Gael always delights us with strange, very entertaining and quirky matches… but that was really weird!
Gael blasted 29 aces, but he committed an incredible 23 double faults in this 3 hours and 37 minutes thriller. The score was also strange. After a couple of tense sets, Gael was bageled in the third to win 6-1 the fourth set (!!!???).
The double fault Saga.
Gael had already a bad record of double faults in the first 4 sets (9), but in the decider he did something remarkable. Besides committing 14 double faults, he managed to squander 4 consecutive match points with 4 double faults! Something that you can’t see even at club level (talking about beginners). The scene was quite amusing also because Gael is such a funny guy… but.. wow!
From Monfils
“It was a bit crazy,” Monfils sai. “It was like, ‘I need to hit an ace because I know it’s going to be a double-fault for sure. It was weird. “I think I got a bit lucky in the end.”
Next Round vs Simon
Gael will play fellow countryman Gilles Simon in next round. Head to head is 3-1 for Simon. Monfils would be better to tune up is service…
