(Melbourne) Frenchman Gael Monfils, 20and world, qualified Friday for the round of 16 of the Australian Open by dominating the Chilean Cristian Garin (19and) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-3.
Posted at 12:37 a.m.
He will face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (77and) for a place in quarters.
Kecmanovic should have been Novak Djokovic’s first opponent, but the world No.1 was expelled from Australia the day before the start of the tournament.
Facing Garin, the 35-year-old Frenchman quickly managed the break, to break away 3-1.
But in the next game, he rolled on the ground after presumably twisting his right ankle.
Grimacing, he spent a few seconds sitting before resuming play. Physically well, it took him several games to fully return to the game.
Time for Garin to catch up, push the Frenchman into a decisive game and take the lead 4-1.
From there, Monfils scored 6 points in a row to conclude the set and take the match in hand, while the Chilean seemed deprived of solutions and committed a lot of unforced errors (45 in total).