Black Tennis Pros

Top seed Gael Monfils defeated fellow Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday in Johannesburg to book his place in the quarter-finals at the SA Tennis Open, an ATP World Tour 250 tennis tournament.

Ouanna managed to save 13 of the 16 break point chances he faced on serve, but it still did not prove enough to prevent his more experienced countryman from closing out the victory in one hour and 21 minutes.

Afterwards, World No. 13 Monfils admitted he had to work for the win against the 88th-ranked Ouanna. “I think he knows me well, and it’s hard all the time when players know you well,” he said. “Also, I just didn’t get the big serve. It was a bit tough. I needed to be focused to get back the return. Also, sometimes he can hit very hard with his forehand, so today was definitely harder than the first game.”

Monfils made an impressive tournament debut Tuesday, taking just 53 minutes to dismiss Slovakian veteran Dominik Hrbaty. The 23 year old is attempting to keep the Johannesburg title in French possession, after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the SA Tennis Open last year.

He will look to reach an ATP World Tour semi-final for the second time this season when he next plays seventh seed Yen-Hsun Lu. Earlier in the evening, after a 90-minute rain delay, Lu knocked out South African wild card Raven Klaasen 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 56 minutes.

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JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Top seed Gael Monfils lost the toss and first two games before unleashing his service power to crush Dominik Hrbaty 6-2, 6-1 and reach the second round of the South African Open on Tuesday.

The 23-year Frenchman ranked 13 in the world was clearly stung by the early form of the veteran Slovak and lost just one of the remaining 13 games at the Montecasino entertainment centre in a leafy, upmarket northern suburb.

It was a floodlit match settled by serving with Monfils outstanding apart from an occasional double-fault blip while 32-year-old Hrbaty battled as his dream start swiftly transformed into a nightmare.

Long before the end of the first round tie the only issue was how long it would take Monfils to wrap up victory and the end came on 53 minutes and 36 seconds via a stinging first serve from the Switzerland-based Frenchman.

"I had a good game and hope to continue this form throughout the week as my ambition is to emulate compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and win the title," said Monfils.

"The altitude was not a big problem as I had two good days of practice and playing at night made it a little easier for me as there was less humidity," he added after a sweltering day in the South African financial capital.

Monfils, born in Paris to Caribbean parents and a huge fan of late American tennis great Arthur Ashe, has a second round date with compatriot Josselin Ouanna, who ousted Israeli Harel Levy in straight sets.

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Slovakia stunned defending champions the United States at the Hopman Cup on Monday.

Dominik Hrbaty completed the surprise triumph with a three-set victory over James Blake after Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova had beaten Meghann Shaughnessy in the opening rubber.

Hrbaty and Cibulkova later completed a 3-0 whitewash of the US by winning the mixed doubles 6-4 7-6.

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