‘I’m very happy. I like this tournament so much, you know. I always come back. And I was very close and finally get it’
Over the years the centre court at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex has proven a field of dreams for some of the finest players in the history of the game.
But for one man the very mention of it would evoke painful memories – images of heartbreak and despair, of broken promises and failure.
Not anymore. Gael Monfils has had enough. He is a champion at last. The opening week of the 2018 tennis season couldn’t have concluded in better fashion.
Monfils, the runner-up in 2006, 2012 and 2014, finally broke his title jinx at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open with a clinical 6-2, 6-3 demolition of Russia’s 20-year-old Andrey Rublev in a one-sided final.
It was an anti-climactic affair, no doubt, but not many who watched the match would have complained. Sentimental favourite Monfils deserved it thoroughly, even though the proceedings ended in 61 minutes flat.
“I’m very happy. I like this tournament so much, you know. I always come back. And I was very close and finally get it. So I’m just very happy and very proud,” said the 31-year-old Frenchman.
Gael Monfils of France pose with the trophy after winning the Qatar ExxonMobil Open at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha. PICTURE: Jayan Orma
He was reminded that when he lost in 2006 to Roger Federer he was only 19 years old, while his opponent yesterday was himself barely 20.
“I think he’s young. He’s coming. He’s going to be very strong. He had very solid end of the year last year. We could see already that he could beat the top players for sure,” added Monfils.
“I mean, for sure he’s going to be definitely in another final and maybe win it. I have no doubt about it.”
Monfils came to Qatar as a wildcard after missing out on the action for several months in 2017 with injury problems.
He grabbed the chance with both hands, fought his way through, had his share of luck when his semifinal opponent and top seed Dominic Thiem withdrew with illness, and then let his racquet do all the talking in the decider, serving and returning brilliantly.
Rublev, the young tyro with plenty of potential, found to his dismay that when one overplays his strong point it could sometimes lead to fatal consequences.
In his semifinal against Argentinian Guido Pella on Friday, Rublev risked that but somehow managed to pull through in three sets after saving a match point. Yesterday, against a better and seasoned opponent, he simply couldn’t.
The over-reliance on his sensational forehand proved the Russian’s downfall. He lost the first set in under half hour after being broken in the fourth and eighth games. It doesn’t help when you commit as many as eight errors on your forehand alone. It was a sign that the match was for Monfils to lose.
He didn’t. He stayed back most of the time in the second set and allowed Rublev to self-destruct, securing his first break in the fourth game after the Russian fired a forehand wide and put another one long.
Monfils was 3-1 up, and although he retained his serve in the fifth game after a few wobbles of his own, it was not long before he wrapped up the match.
He was asked if his style of play – he is always stretching and diving to retrieve seemingly impossible balls – in any way contributes to his injuries.
“Not really. You know, I think I get injured because I’m unlucky about stuff. I think I’m just working the way I am.
“I mean, God gave me such great abilities and sometime that’s a strength and sometime it’s not a strength. So it’s just the way it is. I just pray every day that He gives me strength for all the year, and then I see what He gives me.”
Rublev admitted he was a bit off colour yesterday.
“I think I was completely tired today. I mean, you can see that even my shots were not the same energy like previous matches. I was doing a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong shots. You can see even I was really slow today on the court,” said the runner-up.
“Every time he moved me to one side and most of the time it was almost over, or if I could catch one point then he was always killing me with the second.
“You can see that today I was really had no energy, no power in the legs and the speed of the ball was not even close like it was in previous matches. I mean, previous matches was much faster and all this stuff and really tough for me.”
Rublev added nevertheless that the experience would help him in the future.
“I mean, all the finals it’s experience. I mean, but here is tough. I mean, we play only one hour. I guess the match was almost without chances for me.
“You can see that he was much fresher. He was moving much better than me. He was missing less. You can see that it was, I think, different mentally and energy for both of us. He was more ready to compete and I was a little low.”
But he was clearly disappointed and made no effort to hide it.
“Of course I’m disappointed. It’s always tough to lose, especially in the finals. Sometimes it’s even tougher to recover when you lose in the final then when you lose some semifinals or first rounds. Congrats to Gael because he was not missing, I think he was serving really great today. It was really tough to return. During the rallies he was making all the balls. He was not missing.”
