OPEN D’AUSTRALIE – Gaël Monfils as a leader, Bonzi and tan as rookies

Monfils in the wind

Gaël Monfils had no difficulty passing the first round of the Australian Open, this Monday morning in Melbourne. Lively, very leggy and applied, in the wake of his recent success in Adelaide, the Frenchman did not go into detail against the Argentinian Federico Coria, winning 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in 1h35.

Percussive on serve, dominating in rallies, in short very comfortable in this Kia Arena that he loves, the seeded No. 17 did not concede the slightest break point to an opponent who did not have the weapons from the bottom to jostle him, and who also called on the doctor at the end of the 2nd set. His recent abandonment in Adelaide due to neck pain is nothing more than a bad memory: Gaël Monfils is indeed in great shape for this Australian Open 2022.

Benjamin Bonzi, one more step

He was one of the great French revelations of 2021 and seems firmly determined to stay the course in 2022: Benjamin Bonzi brilliantly offered himself the first victory of his career at the Australian Open by outclassing the German Peter Gojowczyk, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in 1h34.
The German, eighth runner-up at the last US Open, was overtaken from start to finish by Bonzi who served perfectly (21 aces, no double faults), not conceding a single break point and scoring a total of 44 winning shots. This is what is called a dream start for the protege of Lionel Zimbler, who could face the Russian Karen Khachanov in the second round.

Harmony Tan, a successful first

It took a few minutes, but the Australian Open began with a victory for the French clan: that of Harmony Tan who, for his first match in the main draw in Melbourne, perfectly managed his match against to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, beaten 6-3, 6-3 in 1h19. On court 16, Harmony, 107th in the world, played aggressive tennis, thus putting an opponent who is nevertheless renowned in the field under the extinguisher by “passing” him 25 winning strokes (against only 6).

Fiona Ferro was not (so) far away

In the 2nd round, Harmony Tan will have the heavy task of facing Elina Svitolina (n°15), who eliminated another Frenchwoman, Fiona Ferro, 6-1, 7-6(4) in 1h32. After a very complicated start to the match, the Niçoise however managed to shake up her opponent, serving in particular to win the 2nd set at 5-4. But the wife of Gaël Monfils was able to tighten the game at the right time to make the difference in the decisive game.

A snag for Kristina Mladenovic

The mission was also difficult for Kristina Mladenovic, opposite entry to the Olympic champion, Belina Bencic, seeded n°22. “Kiki” resisted until 4-4 in the first set before suffering the acceleration of the Swiss, finally winning 6-4, 6-3 in 1:29. A little too inconsistency on the side of Mladenovic, with 29 unforced errors for 23 winning points, while Bencic presented a balanced record (17/17).