A little tour… As soon as they entered the ATP Cup, the national team event which now sets the pace in Australia at the start of the season, France is already out. The Bleu des Tricolores was much too pale against that of Italy, who secured their place in the semi-finals. After the setback by Benoit Paire against Fognini (6-1, 7/6 (2)), Gaël Monfils was largely dominated by Berrettini (6-4, 6-2). In a no-stake double, the Mahut – Roger-Vasselin pair dominated the Bolelli / Vavassori duo (6-3, 6-4).
“For me, it was physically complicated,” explains Paire, who came out of fourteen days of isolation last weekend. I did what I could. I did not expect to play the game of my life, although I expected better from my training… ”
Monfils’ trials and bad choices
The Avignon player is already happy to have stayed two sets on the court. Monfils is more upset. Facing 10th in the world, the Parisian has never been able to find the right mix. “I’m trying to change several things in my game, blows the No. 11 at ATP. I wanted to be very aggressive on some shots, but I made some really bad choices, a lot of mistakes, which is not in my DNA. I tried to change that at the end of the game and make fewer mistakes. I think I was way too aggressive on some shots. “
The Frenchman is struggling to integrate the speech of his two new Austrian coaches Richard Ruckelshausen, bombed captain of the France team in Melbourne and Günter Bresnik, remained in Europe and that he has regularly on the phone. “I need to sort things out before the Australian Open (Editor’s note: which starts next Monday). I made a lot of mistakes. I want to spend time training more than playing games, ”continues the hexagonal No. 1, hampered in the shoulder after a false move on a service.
Monfils should therefore ignore the next meeting for butter against Austria on Thursday and leave Paire and Mahut to face Thiem and Novak. His best performance at the Australian Open remains a quarterfinal in 2016.
