It was undoubtedly not the best and most memorable Grand Slam match for Gaël Monfils, but he did well in three sets against Daniel Altmaier (7-5, 6-3, 7-6). [3]) which leads him to the third round of the Australian Open, where a very difficult client awaits him, the American Taylor Fritz.
On Thursday, in the afternoon, at the 1573 Arena, where the storm likes to run happily, Gaël Monfils in any case did the job seriously, to become the 4th major player to reach the third round of the Australian Open. It was not always clean or clear against the player, Daniel Altmaier (101 in the world), with few disappointments, but the 38-year-old French veteran knew how to tighten the game and remain conscious in difficult moments.
Very quickly, we understood that it would not be a “big” game. The two players laid the groundwork from the very beginning without taking any unnecessary risks. “La Monf” for his part had a lot of shooting, length and resistance to start. Altmaier had his long one-handed rope, his main thing in the set. This was what took him to the lead at the end of the first set, and combined with a very “soft” passage from Monfils, who dropped four games in a row to find himself trailing 3-5. But the 41-year-old international knows the song and he deftly closed the foul buttons and crossed the line to get back to 5-5, before Altmaier was too generous (with his touch of the ball) to leave two goals. very good feeling.
Taylor Fritz on the road
Up front, Monfils was well established and quickly closed the gap to the second, at 2-1. The German was a little lost in tact. Monfils ran forward, behind, to the tweener! In short, the “senior” had fast legs and calmly placed in the second pocket, with only two errors reported.
The third round may be a little less. Monfils went down in good service, making the first break, while Altmaier, at the foot of the hill, tried to be a little braver. The Frenchman put aside two balls of 3-5 in the opening burst. It would be an absolute threat. In the final race, Altmaier came out of the box, Monfils led from the start and ended the engagement with the final front with 2h19, without working hard or scaring himself.
However, things could be a little more difficult in the next round as the American number 4, Taylor Fritz, stands in his way. The finalist of the US Open and ATP Finals in the second half of the 2024 season, Fritz destroyed the Chilean Cristian Garin in the second round in Melbourne this Thursday (6-2, 6-1, 6-0). This time, the meeting is big for Gaël Monfils, who has only one victory in 5 Grand Slam in his career. And it goes back as it was against David Ferrer at Roland-Garros in 2008.