It was a pretty exciting match since they were the top seeds and this is just Monfils’ second lifetime final victory and his first this season.

image: Zuma Press

“[I am] very happy about winning this second title; I’ve been waiting for it for a long time,” said Monfils. “Being in France, this title is even more special to me, as I won it here in front of my family and friends.”

“I was a little bit lucky that I won the second set because he had all those break points,” said Kohlschreiber. “But I think I played well in my games, I fought a lot and if you fight and hang in there I won the second set. The beginning of the third [set] was even and then he started to play two, three really good games and the match was unfortunately over.”

Congratulations, Monfils!  Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come!

Post from: EveryJoe

Gael Monfils Wins Open de Moselle

Nadal knocked off Novak Djokovic. Easily. Too easily to have Roger thinking the final is going to be anything but a ridiculously hard battle that’s going to be hard to win. The world number three lost in straight sets (6-4, 6-2, 7-6(3)) and never really had a prayer against Rafa. Speaking of Rafa, he has never lost at Roland Garros. Ever. He’s got a 27-0 record in Paris. Isn’t that just crazy? To think that the guy has never lost at a tournament in his entire career. That’s big.

And then you’ve got Federer. He struggled a bit with Gael Monfils, just as I predicted. Federer eased past his 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. Monfils was in his first major semifinal of his career which explained the blowout of the first set, but he settled down and made a match of it. Monfils will be back around. I don’t know that he has what it takes to be the best of the best, but I think we’ll be seeing him again.

But now I find myself conflicted. Do I root for Federer? I love his style. His finesse. His mad skillz. But then there is Nadal. I love his fire. His gutsy balls-to-the-wall defense. His mastery of clay courts. Hmm…good thing I have another day to figure it out.

(Image: Newscom)
Roger Federer stretches out for a return in his match against Gael Monfils in the French Open semifinals.

Post from: EveryJoe

Third time the charm? Nadal and Federer in French Open Finals

Monfils and Jurgen Melzer traded sets with Melzer winning the first and third with scores of 6-4 in each set, but Monfils won the second set 7-5 and then blanked Melzer in the fourth set before finishing him off with a 6-2 fifth set.

Fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko won the first two sets off Ljubicic 6-4, 6-2, but the 28th-ranked Croatian stormed back in the third set with a 6-3 flattening of Davydenko and followed it up with a 6-2 fourth set to level it at two sets apiece. The deciding set went in favor of Ljubicic when he earned the early break and then held at love when he served out the set at 6-4 to win the match.

Whew…exciting! I’m telling you, that’s what these Grand Slams are about – me sitting on the couch watching tip-top athletes completely expend themselves on a tennis court for several hours!

(Image: Newscom)
Gael Monfils stretches out for a return at the French Open…check out his arms, any takers for two tickets to the gun show?

Post from: EveryJoe

Five-set Matches: Monfils and Ljubicic Move On, Davydenko Out

It’s not the actual serve itself. The racket connects with the ball, the ball goes over the net (or it doesn’t), blah blah blah.

Check out his feet. I know, I know. Most women aren’t checking out a guy’s feet, usually we aim a little higher than that. But his feet. Monfils has a rather unorthodox approach; his feet are parallel to the baseline, spaced a couple inches apart. As he throws up the ball, he minces around until his feet are together. Not even Andy Roddick has his feet that close together when he’s unleashing his bombs.

It really gets interesting though when Monfils misses his first serve and has to fall back on his second serve. No acting like his shoelaces are tied together on that one. He uses a more standard approach with the back foot parallel to the baseline and the forward foot more at an angle.

Obviously it’s working for him. At least some of the time. And I’m certainly in no position to stand and pass judgement. After all, I’m the person that spent an hour working on her serve the other day and still kept spraying them wide.

Post from: EveryJoe

Serve It Up: Gael Monfils