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Monfils Unplugged
Tuesday, September 02, 2014 /by Peter Bodo
Gael Monfils posted his fourth straight-sets win of the U.S. Open against Grigor Dimitrov. (Photo by Anita Aguilar)
“I think I hit better the ball day after day. . .I keep like simple thing in my head, so obviously is working. Then it's luck. To be honest, look at set point. I hit one of the worst drop shots I ever hit and he hit a frame. It's pure luck, you know, to haven't drop a set. So you need to have it sometime, and I hope I will have more.”—Gael Monfils, after his fourth straight-sets win of the U.S. Open, this time 7-5, 7-6 (6), 7-5 over No. 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov.
NEW YORK—One of the main themes at this U.S. Open is that Monfils, the No. 20 seed and, to many, one of the game’s major underachievers, is getting down to the business of winning after years spent establishing his credentials as a crowd-pleasing showboat.
In other words, he’s coming to grips with the hard part.
Of course, this is still Monfils, and a leopard never entirely changes its spots. So there were moments in this match when it looked like “La Monf” might run off the rails. Once, he brazenly advanced to the service line as Dimitrov prepared to serve, so disgusted with his game that he was inviting his opponent to just throw in any ball—he was only going to wave at it in passing and intentionally lose the game so he could move on to the next one.
In the second set, Monfils seemed to berate the entire Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd with a voluble stream of invective that turned out to be aimed at only himself. Monfils drank Coca-Cola on the changeovers, flaunting the conventional wisdom (and pleasing a potential sponsor?); he even tanked points.
But he also—and this is the important bit—served lethally, cracked his forehand, and changed the pace of the rallies time and again to goad Dimitrov into over-hitting.
Dimitrov made 19 unforced errors with his usually reliable forehand, and never was able to settle into a groove. The closest Dimitrov came to turning the tide was in the second-set tiebreaker, when he had two set points against Monfils’ serve. He drilled a forehand into the net off a sliced backhand to waste the first one, then he made a great run to reach a woeful drop shot (referenced in the pull quote)—only to take his eye off the ball and send a wild shot caroming off the opposite net post. After that, Monfils kept tight control and went on to win in two hours and 24 minutes.
The only place where Monfils performed better than on the court today was in the interview room. When a reporter commented on his flexibility and asked him if he practices yoga, Monfils replied, “No, just every day thanks for my mom and my dad. Genetics, you know.”
Then someone wondered just what does go through Monfils’ mind when he loses his focus: “I don't know how to explain it. For me tennis is a sport, you know? It's not a job, it's a sport. Sometime if I'm fed up I just leave it. For me, it's like. . . ‘I don't give a sh**.” It sounds bad in English, but I care about the match. I don't care about, you know, other things (presumably, he means rankings and prize money and such).
“It's like I want just to be happy, you know. If I'm not happy, fine. Have it, you know.”
Finally, there was the Coke theme. A nonplussed reporter allowed that he had never witnessed a player drinking a carbonated, sugar-laden soft drink during a match. Monfils replied: “Well, sometimes I just feel like I want a Coke, you know? And I drink a Coke.”
Asked if the gesture he made with the Coke was a toast to the supportive crowd, Monfils smiled: “No. My agent. Because every time it makes him smile.”
Today, that agent, and Monfils fans all over the world, had a lot to smile about.
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uihh... ikut angin dia jek.. |
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yeay! ninja Nishikori menang! |
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Yen_Aireena posted on 4-9-2014 10:11 AM 
yeay! ninja Nishikori menang!
yay!
menang gak... patutnya dia menang masa set ke4 lagi dah.. sbb dia yg serve masa point 5-5 kat tiebreaker.
mujur mng gak set ke 5
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Yen_Aireena posted on 4-9-2014 10:27 AM
salah jangkaan rupanya caro & vika
team Vika kata dia kena food poisoning...
tapi Vika sendiri takmo jadikan alasan... Makarova simply played better katanya
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Mulan posted on 4-9-2014 10:45 AM
team Vika kata dia kena food poisoning...
tapi Vika sendiri takmo jadikan alasan... Makarova si ...
baca gak yg dia food poisoning...
xpela Vika.. ok tu comeback dari injured & fight masa lawan Aleksandra Krunic..
dia out of 20 dlm ranking lps USOpen .. next season, she'll come back to top 10..maybe..
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Mulan posted on 4-9-2014 10:43 AM
yay!
menang gak... patutnya dia menang masa set ke4 lagi dah.. sbb dia yg serve masa point 5-5 ...
dasat gak energy Ninja ni.. back to back 5 sets, exceed 4 hrs.. game yg lps pagi selasa 2.26 am baru habis..
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Yen_Aireena posted on 4-9-2014 11:15 AM
dasat gak energy Ninja ni.. back to back 5 sets, exceed 4 hrs.. game yg lps pagi selasa 2.26 am ba ...
itulah kan...
nanti jumpa Djoko Murray yg sedang fight kat set ke2... tiebreak plak tu dua2 set pertama ni..
Djoko/Murray sama2 penat la dgn Ninja kat SF kot nanti 
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Djoko-Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-2...
VAMOS ANDY!!
Take it to the 5th!!  |
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Mulan posted on 4-9-2014 12:42 PM
Djoko-Murray 7-6, 6-7, 6-2...
VAMOS ANDY!!
andy kalah lerrr
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ashburn posted on 4-9-2014 03:41 PM
andy kalah lerrr
biarlah... asal bukan federer mng uso
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Mulan posted on 4-9-2014 05:43 PM
biarlah... asal bukan federer mng uso
go federer go
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Rafael Nadal King of tennis
1 hr ·
Rafael Nadal's interview to IB3
Translated by @genny_ss
Rafa won't force his come back on court and acknowledges that recovery's going slower than expected.
He's no longer using the splint but hitting the BH at 100% is a different matter. The idea is to come back in Beijing in the 1st week of Oct
Rafa says the process is a bit slow 'cause the wrist is a frail/sensitive part of the body & they need to be cautious not to have a relapse, which could make things worse & that's why they're trying to be calm & follow the right steps to avoid that to happen.
Toni says the injury isn't serious, but they have to be cautious not to start playing w/it not being healed, as it could then become serious
After having to miss the USO, Rafa's taken things easy. 3 days ago he started to hit 2HBH a few min per day, tho for now he still feels pain
Day by day Rafa's adding more minutes & says that he's feeling better than 2 weeks ago when he tested the wrist for the USO.
He's hitting some BH w/topspin, though not yet at 100% from the baseline, but little by little he's doing things he couldn't a few days ago.
He hopes to get ready for Beijing but after missing CAN/Cincy/USO/DC he won't force & will only go if he can hit BH w/o or w/controlled pain
All depends on how things evolve in the next two weeks. Toni thinks these two weeks could be key for the recovery.
From Beijing onwards Rafa's calendar remains as scheduled. That is: Shanghai, Basel, Paris & London.
About the DC, Rafa says losing the play-off would be unpleasant, but trusts the chosen players will try their best to keep Spain in the WG.
Rafael Nadal's interview to IB3Translated by @genny_ss Rafa won't force his come back on court and acknowledges that recovery's going slower than expected.He's no longer using the splint but hitting the BH at 100% is a different matter. The idea is to come back in Beijing in the 1st week of Oct Rafa says the process is a bit slow 'cause the wrist is a frail/sensitive part of the body & they need to be cautious not to have a relapse, which could make things worse & that's why they're trying to be calm & follow the right steps to avoid that to happen.
Toni says the injury isn't serious, but they have to be cautious not to start playing w/it not being healed, as it could then become serious After having to miss the USO, Rafa's taken things easy. 3 days ago he started to hit 2HBH a few min per day, tho for now he still feels pain
Day by day Rafa's adding more minutes & says that he's feeling better than 2 weeks ago when he tested the wrist for the USO.He's hitting some BH w/topspin, though not yet at 100% from the baseline, but little by little he's doing things he couldn't a few days ago.He hopes to get ready for Beijing but after missing CAN/Cincy/USO/DC he won't force & will only go if he can hit BH w/o or w/controlled pain
All depends on how things evolve in the next two weeks. Toni thinks these two weeks could be key for the recovery.From Beijing onwards Rafa's calendar remains as scheduled. That is: Shanghai, Basel, Paris & London.About the DC, Rafa says losing the play-off would be unpleasant, but trusts the chosen players will try their best to keep Spain in the WG.
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jgn lupa malam ni wozniaki lawan d\shuai peng
this chinese woman tetiba jer muncul
not bad gak transition from double to single
rasa nya perlawanan yg menarik
Serena mmg patut jumpa winner of this match
but not sure if Serena akan sweat
cam biasa to Serena mcm a walk in the park jer |
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monfils oh monfils...  |
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Yen_Aireena posted on 5-9-2014 04:19 PM
monfils oh monfils...
monfils buat show jer mcm biasa... kali ni dia nak tunjuk yg dia mampu capai Match Point dgn Fed.. pastu takyah lawan susah2 dah..
hampehhhhh 
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Post time 4-9-2014 08:25 AM
