Gael Monfils will take anything he can get these days, so by his recent standards the ABN AMRO Open should be considered a small victory for him. The 37-year-old, who is struggling down at 68th in the rankings, defeated Denis Shapovalov in a pair of tiebreakers before losing to eventual champion Jannik Sinner in three sets. Monfils was the only player to take a set off Sinner all week long.
It was a much-needed sign of life for the Frenchman, who had previously been just 1-3 this season with two losses at the hands of opponents ranked 65th or worse and no wins over anyone in the top 50.
Up first for Monfils at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday is a first-ever meeting with Botic van de Zandschulp. They are separated by just two spots in the rankings, with Van de Zandschulp coming in at a relatively disappointing 70th. The 28-year-old Dutchman simply has not been the same since suffering the biggest collapse of 2023 in the Munich final against Holger Rune last spring. Van de Zandschulp is at least starting to win some matches again (3-5 record this season), but he is still far from his best level and took only six games from Sinner in the Rotterdam first round.
You never really know if Monfils is 100 percent from a physical standpoint, but if he is then he should be able to take care of business.
Pick: Monfils in 2
WWW?
I think Monfils has a decent chance this week of winning a couple of matches in the Doha conditions ,often windy. Murray is also a good wind player but on recent form , less chance of going far.
BDV in a tough 3.