solving the Monfils puzzle

Bobble

Bobble

Semi-Pro
saw him practicing with Thierry Champion (who he is again being coached by) at the Pacific Life Open before his Ancic match. He was actually practicing jumping-backhands (which he does quite well) but he seemed uninterested in Champion's advice...even to the point to where the coach was yelling "Gael, Gael, Gael" for his attention.

This dis-interest continued into the match, which I also watched. I don't know if it is the mental effects of the constant injuries, but it seems as though Monfils doesn't current;y have his ultra-pumped attitude that I have grown fond of. Maybe he needs a new coach? Or maybe this is the early signs of an "advanced-safin" mentality.

I miss the Monfils from AO 2007 and the Washington tourney last year. Really hope he can find form
 
Its not riddle, hes similar to Safin somewhat from the mental point of view and their games, Monfils through is just no agressive enough, that simple, if he was two feet closer to the baseline he would be top 20
 
Monfils is threatening to fall into the Sam Querrey region - a great talent gone to waste.

He needs a Tsonga-esque performance at a GS (quarters) or MS (semis) to keep me interested.
 
Sam does not come close to Monfils in athletic ability. Movement wise its like comparing a penguin and a ferret. Querrey will have to work very hard to stay in the top 40 for any length of time if he does not vastly improve his footwork. If Sam had Monfils natural gifts he would be top 20 already as he works very hard.
 
A.Davidson said:
Monfils is threatening to fall into the Sam Querrey region - a great talent gone to waste.

He needs a Tsonga-esque performance at a GS (quarters) or MS (semis) to keep me interested.
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What are you talking about "threatening," Monfils is 10 times the talent Querrey is
 
Monfils is very talented and very athletic. the only thing he is missing is the mental part. he doesn't play smart points and isnt as aggressive as he should be.
 
Monfils has to remain injury free, too. He slides tooooo much. He'll hurt himself one day if he keeps that up.
 
A great disappointment. Last year in Miami he tanked again Bolelli and got booed. It was a sad performance. Let's hope he can give Isner a match, maybe beat him. :-?
 
start playing aggressively
we know he's got the defense...and thats good....he can use it to retrieve balls when he needs to

but otherwise he should be putting the foot down
 
Monfils looks like one of those players who will simply waste all their talent and I do not feel sorry for him for doing that, I am more sorry for us hc tennis fans - because we are not going to be watching his exciting tennis. He is well on this road, probably on a path without return.
 
Monfils has vast, vast athletic ability. Possibly the most athletic player on the tour at the moment. His tennis acumen though is virtually non existant. The guy has almost no strategy to his play and seems to actively refuse to think through points. That story Bobble related doesn't suprise me too much and I really doubt he will do anything spectacular with his career.
 
I keep hearing that Monfils is not agressive enough. That was true a couple years ago, but I don't think it's true anymore. I've seen most of his recent matches, and he seems to me to be taking some huge swings when he doesn't even need to. Sometimes it works out well, like here, in my favorite tennis clip of all time: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UJ5fS0EHr9Q.

And did anyone else see his first two matches at Wimbledon last year? It was the most ferocious serving I have ever seen, and he was blasting winners all over the place. He seems to be trying to be more agressive since he's been back this year as well, but hasn't gotten in a groove yet.

I don't think it's a matter of needing to be more agressive anymore. I think he just needs to stay healthy and gain some confidence. I still have faith that it will happen for him eventually. I really hope it comes together for him; tennis is much more interesting when he is playing.
 
It would be truly magical if he beats isner in Miami. Gael owes him from Washington last year. I agree with literallly everyone here, he has so much natural athleticism and talent, he just lacks a great tennis mind at the moment. Hopefully his friend Tsonga can rub off on him.
 
I think Monfils is plenty aggressive, I just think he fails to finish the match towards the end, and he does not make the best decision in points.
 
Teyko said:
I think Monfils is plenty aggressive, I just think he fails to finish the match towards the end, and he does not make the best decision in points.
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Very true. If anything, he is too agressive at the wrong times. I also wonder about his motivation.
 
I think his "athleticism" is a detriment. In the way that he thinks he can do with or get to any ball.

I was watching him play Safin on the grandstand court at Cincinnati a couple of years back (Safin lost more than Monfils beat him), but what I did see was Safin could work Monfils over on the forehand side. Either by hitting hard to that corner or opening up that side by pounding his backhand.

Monfils' habit over there is to do the sliding forehand squash shot (even on hardcourts). Yeah, it's impressive to look at, but he more often than not coughs up a weak ball. By then he's driven back in the court and his opponent can take advantage.

Do that enough in a match and you'll come up with the win.

Monfils needs to knuckle down and just get to work and quit working the style. Squash shot forehands, jumping backhands, sliding on hardcourts......

Perhaps he thinks it's better to look good playing than to just focus and play good.
 
^^^I guess the desire for style over strategy sometimes comes with being a frenchman. He really does need to tone down the sliding, it just seems like his ankles are going to give up by age 24
 
VGP said:
I think his "athleticism" is a detriment. In the way that he thinks he can do with or get to any ball.

I was watching him play Safin on the grandstand court at Cincinnati a couple of years back (Safin lost more than Monfils beat him), but what I did see was Safin could work Monfils over on the forehand side. Either by hitting hard to that corner or opening up that side by pounding his backhand.

Monfils' habit over there is to do the sliding forehand squash shot (even on hardcourts). Yeah, it's impressive to look at, but he more often than not coughs up a weak ball. By then he's driven back in the court and his opponent can take advantage.

Do that enough in a match and you'll come up with the win.

Monfils needs to knuckle down and just get to work and quit working the style. Squash shot forehands, jumping backhands, sliding on hardcourts......

Perhaps he thinks it's better to look good playing than to just focus and play good.
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I don't think that is as much about his athleticism vs. his need to showboat at the wrong times. He is still young, he just needs to concentrate on grinding out the points.
 
Bobble said:
^^^I guess the desire for style over strategy sometimes comes with being a frenchman. He really does need to tone down the sliding, it just seems like his ankles are going to give up by age 24
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That very well may be true, but hey chang was sliding for years and he seems to be fine. James Blake slides alot as well, so given that sliding on hard court is actually a very recent phenomenon, it may be a while until we can actually gauge the effects.
 
christo said:
Monfils and Tsonga actually have a lot in common, they both have amazing athletic ability but seem to have a penchant for hitting the wrong shot at the wrong time. personally I think Tsonga has a lot of work to do on the mental side, Australian Open always produces a surprise SF , everyone thinks he'a lock to dominate now, not so sure.
Click to expand...

I agree, I think Tsonga will have mixed results this year, similar to the year that Baghdatis had after his Ao run...confidence definitely boosts your game for a while but this year will show if Tsonga is a real force or just a fluke (even though he is still very young, like Baghs)
 
Huge win over Isner! Maybe my perceptions of him not paying attention to Champion were a little off. Can't wait to see him play Fed. Sorry if this was a "spoiler" for anyone, but it wasn't televised anyways
 
It may be a routine match, but with Fed's form and Monfil's unpredictability it should be interesting nonetheless
 
^^^if Monfils plays agressive(not 10 ft behind the base line), and pressures Fed and goes for a couple shots you better beleive hes got the game to beat him,...

sadly the problem is he wont do that
 
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