Gael Monfils withdraws from Indian Wells quarter-final clash due to injury
French tennis star Gael Monfils has been forced to withdraw from his BNP Paribas Open quarter-final clash due to a left Achilles tendon problem.
World No. 8 Dominic Thiem advanced to the Indian Wells Masters semi-final as a result of the Frenchman's withdrawal.
It's an unfortunate and disappointing end to Monfils' promising Indian Wells campaign.
The 18th-seeded Frenchman struggled a bit in his Indian Wells opener as he needed three sets to beat Argentine Leonardo Mayer in the second round.
The 32-year-old then demolished Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-0 6-3 in the third round and Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-0 6-2 in the round-of-16 respectively.
Despite his withdrawal, Monfils showed his respect for the crowd as he came out to the court to explain why he was forced to pull out from his match.
"I tried to warm up, my left Achilles was very painful since a couple days. Tonight I tried but I cannot compete 100 percent. So sorry guys, thank you for everything you gave me this week," Monfils explained to the crowd, per Carole Bouchard.
Later in the press room, in-form Monfils didn't hide his disappointment.
"Very disappointing, to be honest now, because I was playing great, playing great tennis, feeling strong. As I was saying all week, I have been working hard," Monfils said, per Tennis Now Twitter.
"You know, for the first time, I guess, people will understand that it's not--you know, a lot of my injuries people think it was because I was lazy or not doing the job, and I always tell them that, you know, it's part of luck sometime. It's part of our job."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2u9eOli
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