Gael Monfils is now reaping the rewards of maintaining his belief as he is into the third round in Toronto.
The Frenchman defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-3 in a highly impressive performance to reach the last 16 in Canada.
Monfils, who played his first match since Roland Garros in Atlanta, played consistent and energetic tennis as he converted three of his six break points to claim victory.
After the match Monfils spoke about maintaining his belief and why his win over Tsitsipas proves why he still plays the sport, “I would say when I almost 100 percent and I feel great, you know, I have a lot of practice behind me and can practice weeks to weeks and play, you know, even tournament after tournament, I be always a tough opponent,” Monfils was quoted by Tennis Infinity as saying.
“That’s why I still play, because I still believe I can be tough for those guys out there. I really want to keep pushing my body and my mind for this week, and, obviously, for the next week coming up.
“Because I won’t lie. What is tough for me is play weeks after weeks after weeks. And so far it’s okay. But I really hope I can keep doing that for couple more weeks. And then it’s too far for me next year.”
Although it’s sad that Monfils cannot keep this level consistently throughout the season unfortunately that’s the reality the Frenchman faces.
This is as Monfils will play just his 12th match of the year on Thursday as he looks to keep the momentum going heading into the latter stages in Toronto.
Next up for Monfils is Atlanta finalist Aleksandar Vukic with the duo set to play their first ever match against each other.
