Gael Monfils stormed back from 4-1 down in the second set to beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open on Friday and set up an all-French final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, following Roger Federer’s withdrawal with a back injury.
Monfils, 25, was unfazed by Nadal’s 8-1 winning record against him and looked the hungrier player, especially in a mesmerizing second set.
Nadal, stung from losing the opening set, surged into a 4-1 lead and the match appeared to be heading to a decider.
Photo: Reuters
Yet Monfils came again, making 18 consecutive first serves. A long forehand from Nadal gave the gangly Frenchman two break points and he took the first with a stinging cross-court drive to make it 3-4.
Nadal, 25, had a chance to redeem himself, earning an immediate break opportunity with a volley winner from the net.
The top seed’s next return appeared out and Monfils paused, waiting for the call. When this did not come, the Frenchman clipped a shot over and Nadal missed his.
Photo: EPA
Monfils went on to hold for 4-4 and Nadal still seemed preoccupied as he served again, slipping 40-0 down following two mistakes and another blistering forehand winner from the pumped-up Frenchman.
Monfils, who has slipped to 16th in the world from seventh in September, then drew the left-hander out wide and came to the net to play a volley winner and earn the chance to serve for the match.
The world No. 2 saved two match points, but Monfils set up a third opportunity with a whipped winner down the line. A Nadal error then gave him the match.
“Against Rafa, you have to have a good [first serve] percentage,” Monfils said in an on-court interview. “I was very fast on court and I think I hit a couple of powerful shots. I feel great.”
The players’ speed around the court created many long rallies, yet serve remained dominant, with no break points in the first five games.
Nadal then slipped when he came to the net while serving at 40-30. Off-balance, he could only put a cushioned volley wide. The Spaniard then placed an angled forehand wide to give Monfils a break chance.
Nadal missed his first serve and after exchanging shots Monfils hit a searing forehand down the line to break, screaming in triumph as he took a 4-2 lead.
Serving for the set, Monfils fell 30-0 behind, but recovered with two un-returnable serves and a flat backhand winner to give him a set point.
After missing the first with a wide forehand, Monfils launched a curling second serve away from Nadal and ambled to the net to put away a volley for a second set point. He did not fail this time, dispatching an ace.
Monfils will now play his friend, Tsonga, who received a bye into the final after Federer withdrew.
“It’s always tough to play against Jo because he’s really powerful,” Monfils said. “It’s tough to manipulate him from the baseline.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but