Confident Gael Monfils wants to chase Major titles and crack into the top-5

Known for his athleticism and acrobatic abilities on the court, Gael Monfils has never been a player to rely on in significant matches, losing too many ATP finals and failing to show his best tennis against the rivals from the top. Reaching at least one title match in every season since 2005, Gael won just eight titles ahead of 2020 season, improving that tally with back-to-back crowns in Montpellier and Rotterdam in the last two weeks. With the momentum carried from winning the title at home, Gael came to Rotterdam as the defending champion and grabbed ten straight sets to earn 500 points and become the third-best player of the season so far behind Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. On Sunday, Gael took down Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-2, 6-4 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in an hour and 26 minutes, facing only two break chances and getting broke once.

That wasn't enough for Felix to stay in contention, with the Canadian dropping almost half of the points in his games and suffering four breaks from 11 opportunities offered to Monfils. The more experienced player had 15 winners and 14 unforced errors, controlling the pace and taking advantage of more than 30 unforced errors from Auger-Aliassime who couldn't find the range or open place to fire winners. The youngster kicked off the action with an ace, fending off three break chances in the third game to stay on the positive side of the scoreboard until game five when Monfils grabbed four straight points on the return to move in front after a backhand winner.

Felix wasted an opportunity to pull the break back in the next game when his forehand landed wide, suffering another break in game seven following a loose forehand and sealing the opener with a service winner in the next game for a 6-2. The Canadian sent another forehand long at the beginning of the second set to lose serve at love, missing another forehand in game five to give Gael a double break and sent him closer to the finish line. Auger-Aliassime repelled four match points in the eighth game to pull one break back and prolong the action before Monfils landed a service winner at 5-4 for a hold at 15 and back-to-back titles during an indoor swing.

"It's an amazing feeling for the first time to defend the title and play on a high note in back-to-back weeks" said Monfils. "It is a different feeling I have never experienced in my career, so I feel grateful. I was ranked sixth in the past and now I want to enter the top-5 for the first time. Also, I would like to reach the final at another Masters 1000 event and maybe to claim the title at that level for the first time. The dream is to win a Grand Slam and that is what I am training and playing for. It is tough but I believe that maybe one day I will be lucky enough to win one. I played passive tennis against Felix, choosing to be in defence quite a lot. I knew, physically, it would be tough for him to come through me. That tactic worked fine for me and I also served well to make the difference."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3bPkcPm