Gael Monfils booked a spot in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament quarterfinals by scraping past Borna Coric 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 on Wednesday night. Monfils led by a set and a break before his serve collapsed, but he righted the ship in time to prevail in one hour and 56 minutes.
“He is a good fighter,” Monfils said of his 19-year-old opponent. “I got a little bit tight at the end of the second set. But fortunately I came back strong in the third set. I served a bit faster and used my forehand well again. It was a very physical match. He was running a lot and very fast. We had some great rallies. He is very talented.”
Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfJIwBEzY9o
Monfils awaits either Gilles Simon or Alexander Zverev on Friday.
Zverev, a semifinalist last week in Montpellier, got back to his winning ways with a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Vasek Pospisil. The 18-year-old German held all 10 of his service games despite putting in only 53 percent of his first deliveries while striking zero aces and three double-faults.
A tough test is ahead of Zverev on Thursday and it will come in the form of Gilles Simon. The 15th-ranked Frenchman lost his opening match in Montpellier to Dustin Brown, but he made sure not to make the same mistake again. Simon overcame a slow start and saved a set point in the opener to beat Robin Haase 7-6(5), 6-1 on Wednesday.
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cant believe he lost the 2nd set
Borna sounds like wild beast. Great highlights. I can watch Gael Monfils all day. If Monfils keeps playing so well, Rotterdam is his. Allez Gael!
Vote for Simon in 3, just in case it’s another slow start and Sascha will be ready to pounce. And, I’d like it to go 3 sets 🙂
Monfils https://vine.co/v/inWPxddp5HY