Video: Monfils Pirouettes, Hits Gorgeous Backhand Winner in Cincy

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Video: Monfils Pirouettes, Hits Gorgeous Backhand Winner in Cincy

Just when we’d though we’d seen it all from Gael Monfils, the flamboyant Frenchman pulls another jaw-dropping show stopper out of his seemingly never empty bag of tricks in Cincinnati. Watch as LaMonf gets wrong-footed by Federico Delbonis but pulls a 360 to recover in time to hit a whirling backhand winner past the befuddled Argentine (Watch the second replay and the slo-mo to get the full effect of Monfils’ wizardry on this one).

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Honestly, it seems as if Monfils is on skates. Furthermore, the Frenchman takes a lot of heat for his over the top showmanship, which is often viewed as gratuitous, but on this move, Monfils’ efficiently executed pirouette is the only way that he has a chance to win this point.

Monfils is the only player in the world that possesses both the moxie and the athletic ability to pull off a shot like this. Sometimes he takes it too far and loses the plot because of his desire to entertain both the crowd and himself, but on this instance, Monfils is just plain mind-blowing—nothing more, nothing less.

He went on to win the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and will face either Roberto Bautista Agut or Martin Klizan in the second round.

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