Gael Monfils will be playing in his first official tournament since the French Open when he faces Thanasi Kokkinakis in round one of the Atlanta Open on Monday night.
Monfils had not won a main-tour matches in 2023 upon arriving at Roland Garros, where he engineered a miracle fifth-set comeback against Sebastian Baez to prevail 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5 in an epic first-round match. The 36-year-old Frenchman withdrew prior to his second-round date with Holger Rune because of a wrist injury, so he is a question mark–as usual–heading into Atlanta. Monfils at least got some tennis under his belt with the most recent installment of UTS in Los Angeles this past week, but that isn’t the same as match play.
Monday marks the second-ever meeting between Monfils and Kokkinakis. The Aussie lost their only previous encounter 7-5, 6-0 in the Adelaide semifinals at the beginning of 2022, but given all of his injury issues this is not the same Monfils more than a year later.
Kokkinakis has dealt with more than his fair share of physical problems, as well, but he has been healthy for the most part this season and finds himself inside the top 100 at No. 88 thanks in part to an 11-9 ATP-level match record for the 2023 campaign. Although the 27-year-old didn’t do anything on grass, at the French Open he advanced to round three before losing to Karen Khachanov in a fourth-set tiebreaker.
Moreover, Monfils is making his Atlanta debut whereas Kokkinakis is a staple of this event and is used to the conditions. You never know what you are going to get from Monfils on any given day, but Kokkinakis has more going for him at the moment.
Pick: Kokkinakis in 2
who ya got?
Koki in 3.