There was no miracle for Gaël Monfils. The Frenchman, 162nd in the world, did not find the resources to resist the Russian Andrey Rublev, seeded number 8 and lost in four sets (6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1) , Thursday in the second round of the US Open.
The Frenchman, who turns 37 on Friday, ends his great American tour with a logical defeat. In difficulty with his service, especially in the first two sets (respectively six and five double faults for a total of 13 over the whole match), Monfils did not manage to pack the match, despite a start in the third set.
“One of my main weapons is dead: I don’t pass a first ball, I can make double faults and I can’t manage to serve in the angles that put me well”, he lamented after the match while saying to himself satisfied overall with his North American tour.
Victories against Tsitsipas and Norrie
After months of treating a foot injury that occurred in Canada last summer and then to the wrist which forced him to forfeit before his second round at Roland-Garros, he had returned to tournaments during the North American summer tour on hard.
He reached the round of 16 in Washington, the quarterfinals at the Masters 1000 in Toronto and again the 8th at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati with three victories against players from the World Top 15 (Tsitsipas, Norrie and Minaur). At Flushing Meadows he passed the first round by beating the Japanese Taro Daniel (95th and from qualifying).
As for Rublev, he will face another Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech (73rd), for a place in the round of 16. Last year, he reached the quarter-finals in New York for the third time. He played quarterbacks in all Grand Slam tournaments, but never managed to reach the last four of a Major.
