Paris- There was a full-capacity crowd at the AccorHotels Arena as the French crowd cheered on their top-ranked player, Gael Monfils. The experienced veteran needed a victory in order to secure the last place for this month’s ATP Finals in London, but fell well-short against the Canadian.
After their five-set thriller a few months ago at the US Open, in which the Frenchman got the better of the talented young gun, much was expected of this match. However, it was not to be as the 20-year-old Canadian avenged his loss at the US Open with a comprehensive 6-2 6-2 win in Bercy.
Monfils spoke to Last Word On Tennis after the match: “To be honest, Denis outplay[ed] me. It wasn’t the best match I played. But I think I couldn’t have done really better today, you know. I think I give everything I had, and Denis was just too good for me today.”
Throughout the match, Shapovalov was in full control of the match. The world no. 28 averaged 64% of first serves and won 92% of his first-serve points (23/25) and did not let Monfils even see a single break point to regain some composure in the match.
When asked about whether physically he was ready after his tough three-setter against Radu Albot yesterday, the Frenchman said, “Well, I won’t say I was, like, very fresh. But I gave it all, you know. It’s no excuse. Denis was much player better than me and all credit to him.”
Monfils On His 2019 Season
Monfils defeat saw Matteo Berrettini confirmed as the eighth man in the field at the ATP Finals, although Monfils will still travel to London as an alternate.
Reflecting on the high points of his 2019 season (assuming this will be his last match on the ATP Tour this year), he commented, “So it was the last four weeks, and it was a very demanding year for me. Obviously proud to be top 10 at the end. And, yeah, I had this small opportunity maybe to qualify for the master (ATP Finals). But today I played a way better player than me, so no shame about that.”
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