Monfils, is this time the right one?

Will it be the right one this time for Gaël Monfils? “If I don’t hurt myself, the American tour is 100% yes”, assured the person on his Twitch channel last month. Fans of the French must therefore have rejoiced when they saw their favorite player hit the ball on one of the Indian Wells courts with the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 4th in the world, this Monday. Several times, there has been talk of the great return to the courts of the former French number 1, now aged 36 and over, who has appeared in competition since August 12 and his withdrawal in the 2nd round of the Montreal tournament. against Britain’s Draper.

Since then, the former number 6 in the world ranking has disappeared from the radar, the fault in particular of this injury to the right heel which had forced him to throw in the towel in Canada and then forced him to regularly postpone his comeback. . This had already been the case at the end of last season, when the player who won eleven titles on the ATP circuit since his debut had to give up the tournaments in Sofia, Nur-Sultan and Florence, which nevertheless appeared on his calendar.

Sport Its protected classification allows it to integrate the big picture

Casper Ruud at practice with GAËL MONFILS for his great return on the tour at @bnpparibasopen!

(🎥 @CasperRuud98) pic.twitter.com/wwL0bksJU5

— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) March 6, 2023

In the same way, the organizers of the Rotterdam and Marseille tournaments, which should also have marked the return to the courts of the double Davis Cup finalist with the Blues, had learned with regret that the young dad would not ultimately be the part. Because if “La Monf'”, 210th this Monday in the new ranking (he fell another two notches), has logically plunged into the hierarchy after having remained almost seven months without playing (this will officially be the case on March 12 next) , his new package, at the start of the season at the Australian Open (a tournament on which he had voluntarily drawn a line this time), allowed him to reach six months and thus offer him a protected classification which allows him to compete in events that he could not normally claim given his current ranking. While he should have played in the qualifications in California, the Parisian will therefore be part of the big picture. Provided he is fit to play again. Her session with Ruud seems to suggest this.