Black Tennis Pros

Frenchman Gael Monfils in round one of the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Championships

The Frenchman opens his first round of play in the 2019 Dubai Duty Free Championships with the same precision and consistency that he has always utilized at his best. In head to head competition, his opponent, Marin Cilic of Croatia, has never been able to prevail against Monfils in their four meetings. Cilic was defeated today 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

During one game Monfils makes a point by exhibiting one of his very athletic jumps to smash the ball and the commentator makes a very apropos comment, "That's worth the entrance money, isn't it, alone... just look at this!" Oh, how true. 

Monfils has kicked off a purposeful and productive 2019. Go Gael!!

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Gael Monfils, France and Damir Džumhur, Bosnia in the 46th ABN AMRO Tournament

(ABN AMRO) Gäel Monfils always performs well during the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. This year also, because the 32-year-old Frenchman was the first man that reached the semi-finals at Rotterdam Ahoy after he defeated Damir Dzumhur: 6-1, 6-2.

"A well-played match”, the Frenchman said who got the nickname 'Flying Frenchman’ three years ago during his way to the finals. "I’ve lost only three games, which is proof that the with my coach discussed tactic is doing great. The hard work in the off-season pays off and I would go back to the top as soon as possible.”

Monfils became sixth in november 2016 and is currently 33st of the worldranking. Saturday afternoon he will compete against the winner of the duel Jo-Wilfried Tsonga-Daniil Medvedev. "The opponent doesn’t matter to me, because it will be hard against both of them. Last week I’ve lost from Medvedev in Sofia and I know Tsonga already. If Jo-Wilfried wins, there will be a Frenchman in the finals anyway. "

Keep an eye on this man the upcoming days @Gael_Monfils 🇫🇷. The celebration says it all... 👉 #abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/YC4VA8HN7u

— ABN AMRO WTT (@abnamrowtt) February 13, 2019

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Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga celebrates advancing to 2012 US Open second round.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga screamed to the blue heavens and pumped his signature double bicep curl, complete with thumbs pointing towards elated eyes as the gallery, solidly behind him, whooped in delight. The charismatic Frenchman completed his first US Open match of 2012 with a dominance fitting his career-best no. 5 seed, ousting Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (2) to advance to the second round.

"I think I played good tennis the first two sets, and after that I lost a bit concentration at the beginning of the third set," said Tsonga. "Then I came back, and, you know, I did some effort to come back. It was not easy today because the weather was hot. I'm happy to go through this round really quickly."

Tsonga blended a sharp, booming forehand with nifty net play throughout, running Beck around the sunlit Grandstand. The drop shots fell early and often, as Tsonga won the point on 22 of 27 (81 percent) net approaches.

"He was moving really well," said Beck of Tsonga. "It was a tough draw, a tough player for the first round. I was trying to play more to his backhand and I thought it was going well in the third set, but you have to be better than playing your 100-percent best to beat someone like him."

Beck finally broke Tsonga early in the third set, trading service games through 5-4 and Beck serving for the set when Tsonga showed resolve, breaking back. Serving to go up 6-5, he swept all the points, punctuated by a 130 mile-per-hour ace, his thirteenth and final one of the match. Beck held serve and the two went to a tiebreak, where Tsonga finished things quickly, leading to his signature celebratory salute.

Up next for the 27-year-old will be another unranked Slovak, left-handed Martin Klizan, who defeated Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 on Monday for his first-ever US Open main draw victory. The two have never met as professionals.

Since Tsonga’s Wimbledon upset of 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, Tsonga’s has placed quarterfinals-or-better in four of five majors, including his longest trek in New York in 2011 where he defeated No. 19 Fernando Verdasco and No. 8 Mardy Fish before losing to Federer in the quarters. Should he reach the same round in 2012, it's likely that Olympic gold medalist Andy Murray will be waiting. The two have had their share of stellar matchups in the Slams, most recently a tough four-setter in July at Wimbledon won by Murray 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.

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A morning of inclement Melbourne weather couldn’t dampen the mood of Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as he took to the Yarra River on Friday.

Despite overcast skies and blustery winds, the smiling Frenchman looked right at home while checking out the city sights from the bow of one of the city’s many water taxis.

“I like [to] spend a lot of time on water, I like [to] swim, I like fishing also,” he said.

“I like [the] people here, I like [the] weather, Even if today, you know, it’s not really good. Usually it’s pretty warm and I like that.”

A crowd favourite at Melbourne Park for his cool demeanour and free-wheeling style, Tsonga is about to enter his fifth Australian Open.

However, the sixth-seed faces a tough initiation to the 2012 tournament with an opening round clash against the 67th-ranked Denis Istomin.

Even though he holds a 2-0 career record over the Uzbekistani, Tsonga expects the first round battle with an in-form Istomin – who has reached the quarterfinals at Brisbane and the semifinals at Sydney this season – to be far from easy. “He’s playing well for the moment. It’s going to be a tough first round but, you know, I’m in a pretty good shape,” Tsonga said.

That “pretty good shape” has already seen him net a 2012 ATP title in Doha, courtesy of a 7-5 6-3 win over countryman Gael Monfils in the final.

Tsonga, nicknamed Ali for his resemblance to the legendary boxing icon Muhammed Ali, will be hoping to pack a similar punch when the Australian Open begins on January 16. His aim will be to go one win better than his previous best result, which occurred in 2008 when he reached the final before falling to current world No.1 Novak Djokovic.

“I feel great, I’ve had some great moments [at the Australian Open] in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,” he recalled.

“[I] hope I will play a good tournament.

When he’s not lining up his trademark forehand drive on court, Tsonga plans to use his down-time to check out some of the many restaurants scattered throughout Melbourne’s CBD.

“Sometimes at night I go out for dinner…on the river, on Chapel Street.”

And when asked about what he liked to do most outside of tennis – the likeable Tsonga revealed a simple, but perhaps not surprising, answer.

“I like to laugh, I like to laugh a lot. I think for me it’s the best medicine,” he grinned.

Heading in to the first major of the year, a relaxed, care-free and well-fed Tsonga can only bode well for his aspirations of winning a Grand Slam tournament.

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