Gaël Monfils began his final Monte Carlo Masters with a convincing victory over Tallon Griekspoor, whose 55 unforced errors cost him dearly in a 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4 defeat that made the retired Monfils the oldest winner in Masters history.
Tallon Griekspoor started on fire with a flawless service game to open and a strong return game, in which the Dutchman broke Gaël Monfils with an impressive passing shot. Monfils responded quickly and got back to 2-2 after poor serves from Griekspoor and a strong service game from the retired Frenchman.
Monfils continued with a strong first set and went into the break at love as Griekspoor lost the plot, allowing Monfils to go on a 12-1 run and take a 3-2 lead in record fashion. Just when Griekspoor seemed to have regrouped as they led 40-0, Monfiels fought back and erased the lead with four straight points. The experienced Frenchman prevailed with a dominant service game, erasing eight break points to take a two-game lead.
After Griekspoor leveled the set at four games apiece and Monfils attempted a trademark in the next game, the two exchanged service games to force a 12-game opening set. Griekspoor struggled with his serve, hitting just 50% after 10 games, and reaching 20 unforced errors in eleven.
The ensuing surge was almost covered by Griekspoor, who looked to capitalize on a late error from Monfils, but failed to get going after failing to stop a volley. The Dutchman hit his first ace of the afternoon after his unforced error, but wasted the second point. Another double fault from Monfils helped Griekspoor take the lead again and win the set after 63 minutes.
Monfils takes over
After a short medical break that Griekspoor requested for his shoulder, Monfils pushed himself forward by winning three consecutive games before conceding his first. Mr he dominated the seconds, leaving Griekspoor in the dust as he dominated the Dutchman in every part of the game.
A double fault in his final service game set Griekspoor up for disaster, as Monfils claimed a 6-1 set lead and forced a third set decider.
Griekspoor opened the third set in the same manner as he played the second and conceded the first break point, but changed his luck with two strong hands. The Dutchman struggled with Monfils’ serve, scoring just five return points in eleven games between the start of the second set and 2-2 in the third.
The Griekspoor is almost up again
Monfils took the lead again when he broke a fiery Griekspoor, who was reeling off 50 unforced errors, at love to go up 3-2. A stellar forehand gave Monfils a 4-2 lead as well, making him one step closer to becoming the oldest winner in Monte Carlo Masters history.
A forehand hit gave Monfils a two-game lead over Griekspoor, who came back to break Monfils at love and take his first break since the first set, after which the Dutchman finally hit the first game to cut Monfils’ lead to just one game. Griekspoor forced another stoppage time as Monfils looked nervous, but had to concede, as the mishit earned Monfils a historic win.
With his first victory 21 years after his debut in Monaco, Gaël Monfils became the oldest winner in the history of the Monte Carlo Masters.
In his final Monte Carlo Masters, Monfils will face Alexander Bublik in the second round.
Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore
#Monfils #open #final #Monte #Carlo #Masters #winning #Griekspoor #Flashscore.com