Gaël Monfils, the last French winner in Montpellier in 2020, will not see the 2nd round of the Open Sud de France. He fell on the Italian Flavio Cobolli, physically fresher and victorious in three sets (6-7 [8]6-3, 6-0), this Wednesday.
Under the eyes of table tennis player Félix Lebrun, returning from Goa (India) where the local won a second title on the WTT circuit, Monfils ignited the court by breaking his opponent from the start and leading 3-0 before being caught on his service. Head to the tie-break for the two players who battled in this first set. “La Monf’” roared the loudest, winning the first round in a tight decisive game (6-7 [8]).
Monfils finished blunt
Triple winner in Montpellier (2010, 2014 and 2020), Monfils seemed to be off to a good start in this match and obtained two break points in the first game of the second set. But the young Italian (21 years old) saved them, taking the service of the 37-year-old Frenchman twice in a row to lead 3-1, 4-2, then 5-2 before winning the second set (6-3) .
Having fallen to 70th place in the ATP rankings, Monfils unfortunately did not exist in the third and final round dominated head and shoulders by the Transalpine. A scathing 6-0 and a bitter defeat for the Frenchman who finished blunted. Cobolli will face for a place in the quarters another Frenchman, Constant Lestienne (106th in the world), who brought down the Spaniard Bernabé Zapata Miralles (80th) in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-2), Wednesday.
