Just a few days ago I accused Gael Monfils of still battling his old demons. After losing the Nice final to an accessible player like Albert Montanes, I felt the Frenchman missed yet another good opportunity to add to his not-so-impressive tally of ATP titles.
Consequently, when he faced Tomas Berdych in the first round at this year's Roland Garros, I was really curious to see if he can pull off the big upset. I called it a 'make it' or 'break it' moment, a match that could potential turn his poor season around. I believed in Monfils though. He may lack the consistency to win two, three such matches in a row, but as I said before, he does have the weapons to beat the big guys on a given occasion.
Therefore, I was not surprised to see the Frenchman take what looked like an decisive two sets to love lead against the 5th seeded Czech. Nevertheless, as soon as he lost the fourth set on a tie-break, I started to question his ability to close out the match. At that stage I thought Berdych would came back and win the match. As with Stan Wawrinka, I just never trust Gael when the going gets tough. However, copying the Swiss' example as of late, the Frenchman did not give up. He maintained his cool head, did not panic and eventually sealed a sensational 7-6,6-4,6-7,6-7,7-5 victory to mark his return to the big league after a nightmare injured that threatened to end his career.
Things won't get any easier for him in the next round though. Drawn against talented Ernests Gulbis, it will require another magnificent performance to see off the red-hot Latvian. Let's do it Monfils!
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