Gael Monfils: It is never easy to come back after a win

French tennis star Gael Monfils made a positive start to his Rotterdam campaign on Wednesday and now he is hoping to make yet another deep run at the tournament. 

Monfils, who beat Stan Wawrinka in last year's Rotterdam final, handed a straight-set defeat to Portuguese Joao Sousa 6-3 6-2 to set up a round-of-16 meeting against fellow compatriot Gilles Simon.

Third-seeded Monfils broke Sousa twice in each set and lost his serve once in the first set en route to claiming a comfortable straight-set win in an hour and 10 minutes of play. 

"It’s never easy to come back after a win, but I have great memories from last year," Monfils said, per the tournament's Twitter account.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded David Goffin survived a tricky opener at the tournament after coming down from two sets to one down to beat Dutch wildcard Robin Haase 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-4. 

After the match, Goffin spoke highly of two-time ATP champion and former world No. 33 Haase as he said: "It was a tricky match. He is very smart on the court. It was a tough match for me, but I’m happy to be in the second round."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2vptFfB