gael monfils

Gael Monfils Is Half Tennis Genius, Half Slapstick Comedian

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—Last night Gael Monfils had the whole arena in his palm, and he had his neon soles skidding across the whole arena. I can’t explain how how he does that on hardcourt baked dry in the desert sun—someone study his ankles and whatever they’re made of—but skidding was surely the precise verb, as he…

This Is How Hard It Is To Rip A Winner Past Gael Monfils

Gael Monfils is content to camp out eight feet behind the baseline and beat back whatever you send his way; it’s how the world No. 12 has made his living. He’s springy and long-limbed and you’re probably going to get tired before he does. But Mohamed Safwat, ranked No. 199, played Monfils’s game today and somehow came…

Gael Monfils, Snubbed By France For Davis Cup, Fucks Around With Obscure Sport Instead

Gael Monfils, the best living tennis player from France, was curiously not chosen to play the first round of the Davis Cup, the most important international tournament in the sport. He can blame his long-simmering beef with team coach Yannick Noah, national tennis legend—and father of Knicks sharpshooter Joakim—who…

Rafael Nadal Turned Off The Gael Monfils Show

Rafael Nadal put up a sweat-saturated 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 performance to end Gael Monfils’s run at the fourth round of the Australian Open. Through the first two sets it looked like old-school Nadal dominance. Both sixth seed Monfils and ninth seed Nadal are rangy scramblers who cover every inch of the baseline,…

Gael Monfils, At The Peak Of His Career, Is Still A Good Clown

Gael Monfils cannot turn down an opportunity for a good show, not even with set point in the Australian Open. With the second set at stake, in the middle of a rally, the Frenchman chose to go behind the back. His second-round opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov, whether thrown off by the mild sidespin or the plain audacity,…