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Video length: 7 min
1st round: the summary of the match of Gaël Monfils vs Aleksandar Vukic
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(France TV)
For his first participation in the Monaco tournament since 2016, the Frenchman seemed to struggle physically on Tuesday, but he came out in three sets.
Back at the Masters 1000 in Monte-Carlo, where he lost a final against Rafael Nadal eight years ago, Gaël Monfils made a remarkable entrance. The current 40th player in the world struggled but won against Aleksandar Vukic (n°65), a lucky loser who replaced his compatriot Jordan Thompson at the last minute. The Frenchman got the better of his opponent in three sets (6-7, 6-3, 7-5) and 2h11 of play.
Gaël Monfils, however, seemed set to bow. Grimacing and in full physical decline in the last act, he did the resurrection move in the middle of the match, emerging victorious after erasing two breaks behind. The 37-year-old would undoubtedly have made his task much easier if he had converted his set point in the first set. He will face world No. 4, Daniil Medvedev, in the next round.
There are already only him and Ugo Humbert left in the running on the French side, Arthur Fils having lost to Lorenzo Musetti (6-3, 7-5) at the end of the day. Earlier in the day, Novak Djokovic successfully entered the fray by dispatching his match against Roman Safiullin (6-1, 6-2). The top seeds held their place, from Alex de Minaur to Hubert Hurkacz via Alexander Zverev.
