Brisbane International Tennis - Australian Open Series

Monfils the magnificent

Monfils the magnificent

AAP/Image: SMP Images Thursday 7 January 2010 8 Comments »

French showman Gael Monfils castigated a pesky net cord and then finally brushed off James Blake on Thursday night to progress through to the Brisbane International semifinals.

Monfils fought back from a set down to topple the popular American 3-6 6-3 6-4 in a highly entertaining quarterfinal at Pat Rafter Arena.

The third seed’s victory has set up an intriguing clash with defending champion Radek Stepanek, who easily overcame another unseeded American in Wayne Odesnik, on Saturday.

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It took Monfils four match-points to finally sink Blake, after breaking him in the seventh game of the deciding set.

Blake survived the third match point with a fortunate forehand that clipped the net cord and gave the world No.13 no chance.

One of the characters of men’s tennis, Monfils immediately walked to the net and brushed the cord before waving his finger at it and telling it not to hurt him again, leaving the Brisbane crowd in stitches.

Blake’s luck didn’t last much longer as Monfils, who served 13 aces for the match, ended his tournament with the next two points.

Blake had three more break-point chances in the match but Monfils saved seven of his nine.

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  • Andy Murray

    What does it say about Ana Ivanovic that she, a former world number 1, could not take a set, let alone 6 games, off Justine and yet Melinda Czink, the little known 37th ranked player lost to Henin in 3 sets, the last of which was a tiebreak? Somehow we need to solve this issue of the one hit wonders, either through a better ranking process, or something else.

  • announakis

    oh j'aurais tant aime voir ce match ! je t'ai vu face a Dent et la GG ! battre Blake, fantastique…t'es en forme ! continue et fais toi plaisir…ca nous fera plaisir !
    je vais venir te supporter samedi ma caille…d'ici la, fais gaffe a tes doigts et a ton epaule ^_-

  • announakis

    Well done Gael ! you did a great job against Dent (he hits the ball pretty hard this fellow hey !) I just regret I could not see you today since Blake is also fairly tough. I'll be cheering up for you on Satursday though…in the meantime, take it easy on your fingers and shoulder,,,
    allez mon grand tu peux le faire ! t'as la classe !

  • Paulez2

    Was a great match to watch. Shame James Blake didn't progress but never mind. Should be a good match now between Monfils and Stepanek. I look forward to it.

  • Nadine Thompson

    Why can't we get live matches on tennis channel. I am ready to cancel tennis channel. I pay extra for tennis channel and all I am seeing is rewinds. Not worth what I pay for the channel to see games that are already complete.

  • http://www.thaliamurillo.wordpress.com/ Thal44

    Allez Monfil!!

  • blake

    Yeahh Monfils He will wi for sure

  • GTR03

    I agree that the coverage is lighter than I thought it was. But, it would cost a fortune if they had to pay commentators and camera men etc. for every piddly match of every ATP 250. The semi's and the final will be on and of course every round of every major. Plus, I don't know about you but it only costs me an extra $4. Not bad.

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