US Open 2023 | 2nd round: Gaël Monfils eliminated in four sets by Andrey Rublev

We saw Gaël Monfils having fun on the New York Grandstand. But the French will not celebrate his 37th birthday with a third round at the US Open 2023. He fell on an Andrey Rublev who played seriously and coldly for almost the entire match, concluded in four sets (6-4, 6 -3, 3-6, 6-1) and 2h20 of play. We thought that Monfils was going to turn things around after winning the third set. He ended up physically collapsing in the face of multiple gunshots from the eighth player in the world, who did not fall into the trap. In the next round, it will be another Frenchman who will stand in his way, in the person of Arthur Rinderknech.

For a moment, Gaël became Monfils again in front of an audience that was largely won over to his cause. The Frenchman put on a show for at least a quarter of an hour, thanks to a third set that he won out of nowhere, under the fervor of the fans, while Andrey Rublev did not given a lot in this third confrontation between the two players.

Spectators no doubt believed in a comeback, but the euphoria did not last for Monfils, who no longer had enough gas in the tank to beat an opponent in metronome mode. The Russian was rarely annoyed, and did not play the game of a Monfils who perhaps hoped to see his opponent unpin to have a semblance of luck. As proof, Rublev quickly regained his senses in the last set, which was one-sided, despite having to wait for a fourth match point to return to the locker room (6-1).

The fact is that, despite all the courage in the world and a will to communicate, Monfils often failed in the execution. Evidenced by this rather implausible waste of service in the first sets, materialized by 13 double faults (against 2 for Rublev). It was far too great a handicap to make the Russian waver. More generally, the Frenchman was angry with his face-off in this match (51% of first serves).

Solid, Rublev then concluded the first act with two shutouts, while Monfils had deceived by breaking to return to 3-4. He will only have survived in this meeting with a lot of flashes, even falling into the whimsical to amuse the gallery. All smiles, liberated, the Frenchman will at least have left beautiful images to the public.

Strangely, Rublev experienced an air pocket from the attack of the second set, conceding his face-off to put his opponent back in the game. Alas, Monfils was unable to take advantage of it and quickly fell back into his ways, with three double faults in the next game (1-1). It was too much and the confidence never really left the world number eight, who was able to count in particular on well-found areas on his cross attacks (116 points won).

At times he seemed on cloud nine, his tennis was so relentless. He was a little overtaken by the circus of the third set, but that’s all he can blame himself for as he was able to produce an almost perfect performance to continue his journey at the US Open. Where he will therefore cross swords with a Frenchman for the third time in a row. There is like a theme.