By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Gael Monfils overcame a jarring first-set fall and a 1-4 second-set deficit defeating David Goffin, 7-6 (5), 7-5, to reach the Rotterdam second round.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
One of tennis' top action stars pulled off another pulsating adventure today.
Gael Monfils overcame a jarring first-set fall and a 1-4 second-set deficit defeating David Goffin, 7-6 (5), 7-5, to reach the Rotterdam second round.
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In a battle of former finalists, Monfils snapped a three-match losing streak to Goffin beating the Belgian for the first time since the 2016 Rogers Cup.
The acrobatic Monfils could have used a stunt double during a wildly entertaining one hour, 46-minute victory that saw the Frenchman crash to the court in the first-set tiebreak, scramble all over the place retrieving the Belgian's deep drives and mix in some mesmerizing lobs and drop shots.
The 33rd-ranked Monfils will take on Italian Andreas Seppi for a quarterfinal spot. Yesterday, Seppi stopped German qualifier Peter Gojowczyk, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2.
The distracted Frenchman sprayed a forehand and scattered a backhand gifting the opening break at love.
Conversing with the chair umpire and supervisor a couple of times, Monfils, apparently bothered by the lighting behind the court, settled in and broke right back in the second game.
Slamming an ace, the world No. 33 backed up the break at love.
Challenging Monfils in an increasingly fierce forehand-to-forehand exchange, the Belgian drew an error for double break point in the ninth game. Sticking a shot on the very edge of the line, Goffin broke again for 5-4.
Each time Goffin broke to go ahead, Monfils made an immediate response.
Amping up his aggression, Monfils broke right back in the 10th game.
Staring down double break point in the 11th game, Monfils cracked consecutive aces to hold strong.
A stunning, running forehand pass down the line gave Monfils a 5-3 lead in the tie breaker.
Two points later, the Frenchman was well off the doubles alley running around his backhand when he rolled his left ankle and crashed hard to court landing on his left wrist and left hip.
Shaking off a jarring fall, Monfils earned set point on a Goffin forehand error then closed the 55-minute opener with a drop shot-volley combination.
Two games into the second set, Monfils' left wrist seemed to be limiting him as he began hitting one-handed backhands. Targeting that backhand wing, Goffin drew a floated slice error to break for 3-1.
An increasingly frustrated Monfils sailed another one-handed backhand as Goffin breezed through a love hold to back up the break for 4-1.
Delving into prevent-defense mode, Monfils made several sliding gets to extend points and force the Belgian to play an extra ball. On his third break point, that resilience paid off as Goffin's shot struck the tape, popped up in the air and settled on his side giving Monfils the break for 3-4.
The Belgian's backhand is a rock-solid shot, but Goffin uncharacteristically missed his two-hander twice then was off-balance and bamboozled by a brilliant Monfils lob to face double break point in the 11th game.
Moving up quickly to a mid-court ball, Monfils elicited a netted backhand—Goffin's third backhand error of the game—breaking for 6-5.
The drama wasn't over yet.
Smacking his seventh ace, Monfils erased a break point. During a crazy exchange, Monfils hit two drop shots and somehow pulled out the point saved a second break point.
Victimized by a broken string, Goffin couldn't control the unruly string bed sailing a forehand return 10 feet long to face match point.
Digging in on defense, the 2016 Rotterdam runner-up cracked a crosscourt forehand drawing one final error, improving to 5-2 on the season.
Earlier, fourth-seeded Milos Raonic rocketed 21 aces and permitted just six points on first serve edging Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (8), 7-5. A 2015 Rotterdam semifinalist, Raonic faces Swiss wild card Stan Wawrinka, who knocked the Canadian out of the semifinals en route to the title four years ago.
It was a good day for Canada as 10th-seeded Denis Shapovalov swept Croatian qualifier Franko Skugor, 7-5, 6-3, in 83 minutes. The 19-year-old Shapovalov, the youngest man in the field, takes on 33-year-old Tomas Berdych for a quarterfinal spot.
The Czech wild card conquered qualifier Gilles Simon, 7-6 (8), 6-4, on the strength of five service breaks.