Gael Monfils

Su nombre completo es Gael Sebastien Monfils... Su apodo es “Lamonf”... Su padre, Rufin, fue jugador de fútbol originario de la isla Guadalupe... Él es agente de France Telecom... Su madre, Sylvette, proviene de la isla Martinica y es enfermera... Tiene un hermano menor, Daryl... Considera a Arthur Ashe como su jugador favorito... Fuera de los courts camina con su iPod escuchando música, particularmente rythm&blues... Si no hubiese jugado tenis practicaría básquetbol... Fanático del equipo de la NBA Detroit Pistons y su basquetbolista favorito es Carmelo Anthony... Terminó como No. 1 del mundo junior en el 2004 con los títulos del Abierto de Australia (derrotó a Ouanna), Roland Garros (a Kuznetsov) y Wimbledon (a Kasiri)... No perdió ningún set en Australia y perdió sólo uno en París y Wimbledon... En el 2003 fue finalista del Orange Bowl (perdió con Baghdatis) y del USTA Winter International Championships (con Rieschick)... Sus mejores amigos son sus compatriotas ex compañeros de juveniles, Josselin Ouana, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga y  Paterne Mamata... Nombrado Revelación del Año ATP del 2005... Es entrenado por el australiano Roger Rasheed (desde Toronto en julio del 2008).

2009 -- The No. 2 Frenchman (behind No. 10 Tsonga) finished in Top 15 for second straight year…Won a personal-best 42 matches and captured second career title in Metz (d. Kohlschreiber)…Reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final in Paris (l. to Djokovic)…Opened season with a SF in Doha, defeating World No. 1 Nadal in QF before losing to Roddick…Retired in 4th RD at Australian Open with right wrist injury…Broke into Top 10 for first time on Feb. 23…Spent 14 weeks in Top 10…Finalist at Acapulco (l. to Almagro), his sixth straight runner-up…Advanced to 4th RD at Miami*, saving two match points against Safin before losing to Roddick…Missed a month with left knee injury before QF at Roland Garros (l. to Federer)…Injured left wrist at Queen’s in London and was forced to withdraw from 3rd RD and Wimbledon…Returned in Montreal*…Reached 4th RD at US Open (l. to Nadal)…Finished season with QFs in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna, SF in Tokyo and runner-up in Paris*…Compiled marks of 33-15 on hard, 8-4 on clay and 1-0 on grass…Earned a career-high $1,290,794.

2008 -- The Frenchman finished in Top 20 for first time and won a personal-high 30 matches while reaching his first Grand Slam SF and sixth career ATP final...Missed first two months with a right knee injury and went 5-7 going into Roland Garros where he reached SF (d. No. 5 Ferrer, l. to Federer)...

On grass, reached SF in Nottingham (l. to Karlovic) but then withdrew from Wimbledon due to right shoulder injury...In August, advanced to QF at Beijing Olympics (l. to Djokovic) and followed with 4th RD at US Open (l. to Fish)...Beat Top 10 Nalbandian in both...Finished indoor circuit with a 10-4 mark, reaching SF in Bangkok (l. to Tsonga), runner-up in Vienna (l. to Petzschner), QF at AMS Madrid (d. No. 10 Gonzalez, No. 8 Roddick, l. to Murray) and 3rd RD at AMS Paris (l. to Nadal)...

Went 5-7 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled records of 18-11 on hard, 9-5 on clay and 3-1 on grass...In lone Challenger outing in May in Marrakech, won title (d. Chardy)...Earned a career-high $889,581.

2007 -- Finished in Top 50 and reached an ATP final for third straight year...Advanced to 3rd RD at Australian Open for first time (d. Bracciali, Baghdatis, l. to Gasquet)...In March, won title at Sunrise Challenger (d. Seppi) and two months later in Poertschach, defeated Querrey, Lee, No. 3 Roddick and Hewitt to reach fifth ATP final (l. to Monaco)...

In July, reached QF in Gstaad (l. to Mathieu) and SF in Washington (l. to Isner)...In September, advanced to SF at Bucharest (l. to Hanescu)...Went 3-2 vs. Top 10 opponents, including wins over No. 5 Davydenko in Gstaad and No. 7 Robredo in Stuttgart.

2006 -- Finished in Top 50 for second straight year despite on-and-off injuries throughout season...Retired with a back injury in QF at Queen's, missed European summer clay court circuit with a right foot injury, withdrew from Asian circuit with stress fracture in left foot and then sprained his right ankle in October in Madrid...Opened season with runner-up in Doha (l. to Federer) and in May, reached SF at ATP Masters Series Rome (d. Roddick, l. to Nadal)...

His best Grand Slam came with 4th RD finish at Roland Garros (d. Blake, l. to Djokovic)...Moved on to grass at Queen's and recorded third win over a Top 10 player in four tournaments, defeating No. 4 Ljubicic en route to QF...Retired against Blake with a back injury...Made 1st RD exit at Wimbledon and sat out next two months with a right foot injury...Returned in August at AMS Cincinnati, defeating Safin before losing to No. 10 Baghdatis...At US Open, lost to Moodie in 2nd RD...Then suffered a left stress fracture and missed a month before returning in mid-October in Madrid where he sprained his right ankle...Had a 3-5 record vs. Top 10 opponents...

2005 -- Climbed 200 spots in ATP Rankings to finish as No. 3 Frenchman (behind No. 16 Gasquet, No. 26 Grosjean)...Won Challenger titles in Benancon (d. C. Rochus) and Tunis (d. Santoro)...Reached 4th RD at ATP Masters Series Miami (l. to Hrbaty) and 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Ancic)... Won first ATP title in Sopot (d. Mayer)... Finalist in Metz (d. Gasquet, Hrbaty, l. to Ljubicic) and Lyon (d. Gaudio, Grosjean, l. to Roddick)...

2004 -- Improved ranking by over 700 positions in rankings...Made ATP debut as wild card in Metz and reached QF by (d. Malisse, Patience, l. to Gasquet)...Qualified into AMS Paris and reached 2nd RD (d. Enqvist, l. to No. 3 Hewitt)...Went 14-6 with one title in Futures and 3-5 in Challengers...In doubles, reached final at France #7 (w/Ouanna)...

2010

Began season at Brisbane, beating Blake in QFs en route to the SFs (l. to Stepanek)…Seeded No. 12 at Australian Open for the second straight year, he reached the 3rd RD for the third time before falling to No. 33 seed Isner 16 64 67(4) 67(5)…Was one of three Frenchmen in 3rd RD, alongside Serra and No. 10 seed Tsonga…

In February, as top seed in Johannesburg, fell to Lopez 36 61 76(1) in SFs...went on to reach back-to-back QFs at Rotterdam (l. to Youzhny) and Marseille (l. to Benneteau)...In March, represented France versus Germany in Davis Cup 1st RD at Toulon...Beat Kohlschreiber 61 64 76(5) in lone singles rubber...As No. 12 seed at Indian Wells, fell to Greul 16 62 63 in 2nd RD...