Gael Monfils’ tennis is electric. In a video on Twitter Friday, the Frenchman showed his dancing is, too.

It’s Friday then…??? pic.twitter.com/bGu9FNVn0F

— Gael Monfils (@Gael_Monfils) July 31, 2020

Monfils and girlfriend, WTA star Elina Svitolina, were on a boat listening to Push The Feeling On by Nightcrawlers when the No. 9 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings suddenly jumped up and broke out his best moves. This isn’t the first time the Frenchman has shown the world his dancing skills.

“Maybe [the dancing is] more from my dad because my dad danced a lot,” Monfils said at a press conference in 2011. “But it just is fun because I like to dance… and I have a lot of dancer friends.”

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Naomi Osaka are two of the brightest young stars in tennis. But who has the more interesting Twitter channel?

In this week’s episode of Tennis United, co-hosts Vasek Pospisil and Bethanie Mattek-Sands discuss the pair’s tweeting habits and guess who wrote what.

Are band-aids a fashion statement?

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) March 1, 2020

The reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion enjoys sharing his musings with his fans on social media.

“That’s why I was asking,” Tsitsipas says. “I wanted to know from the people!”

We’re all pretty bizarre, some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all.

— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@StefTsitsipas) April 30, 2020

Pospisil and Mattek-Sands take note of Tsitsipas’ use of commas.

“[There are] way too many of them! It’s like a poem or something,” Tsitsipas says, cracking a laugh. “I have to write properly grammatically. I feel badly if I don’t!”

Former World No. 4 Robin Soderling joins the show to speak about mental health and sharing his story.

“The only reason why I decided to speak about it is because if I could just help one player or one person, it’s good enough,” Soderling says.

Two of the world’s best African tennis players, Kevin Anderson and Ons Jabeur, discuss what it means to represent the continent.

“It’ll definitely be very meaningful if in 10 years’ time if somebody has a conversation and says one of the reasons they played was because they watched us when they were kids,” Anderson says.

Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal walk into a room and lock the door behind them. Like a classic Western movie, only one of them is walking back out.

There are a myriad of ways to compare and contrast the Big 3 in the interminable GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) debate. One way is simply mano a mano – how do they directly stack up against each other?

At this specific point in their unfinished careers, the player walking back out the door is Djokovic.

An Infosys ATP Insights deep dive into 13 metrics from matches that Federer, Djokovic and Nadal played only against each other identifies that the Serbian ever so slightly edges the Swiss and the Spaniard. It’s important to note that they played 145 matches in ATP, Grand Slam and Davis Cup events. There are two Davis Cup matches that count in the overall win/loss record, but they are not part of official ATP match statistics.

Points, Games, Sets, Matches = Djokovic
Djokovic is the only player in the Big 3 to have won more than 50 per cent of points against his two arch rivals. When you break down their storied rivalry to the building blocks of our sport, Djokovic has won 50.34 per cent of points played in ‘Big 3 battles’, with Federer at 49.84 per cent and Nadal just a hair behind at 49.79 per cent.

Less than one percentage point separates the three. When putting greatness under the microscope, it’s razor thin margins that emerge. All told, the tennis world has been gifted with just over 50 thousand points (51,770) when these three players have stood across the net from each other.

Djokovic is the only player to win more than 50 per cent of games played, at 50.82 per cent. Nadal has won exactly half his games (50%), while Federer is nearby at 49.13 per cent. The first real separation is found in sets, where both Djokovic (52.26%) and Nadal (51.49%) have won more than half of their sets, while Federer sits lower at 46.27 per cent.

A metric that carries significant weight in this analysis is that Djokovic and Nadal have both won more matches than they have lost in the rivalry.

Matches Won/Lost (Including Davis Cup)
•Djokovic = 53.33% (56/105)
•Nadal = 52.63% (50/95)
•Federer = 42.39% (39/92)

Serving = Federer
Federer outperformed Djokovic and Nadal in the serving statistics, finishing on top in service points won (63.68%). The Swiss created the most separation with first-serve points won at 71.80 per cent, which was more than three percentages points higher than Djokovic (68.48%) and five percentage points better than Nadal (66.01%).

Federer served 782 aces against Djokovic and Nadal, while the Serbian and the Spaniard put up roughly the same amount (801) combined. One metric that may surprise most is that Djokovic did the best behind his second serve, winning 53.58 per cent. Nadal finished atop in break points saved at 60.61 per cent.

Returning = Nadal
The Spaniard won the most return points at 37.32 per cent and finished first with second-serve return points won at 48.89 per cent. Interestingly, Federer finished first with first-serve return points won at 32.10 per cent, which was right around two percentage points higher than his two rivals. Nadal was also the most ruthless on break points converted at 42.36 per cent.

It is clear that this three-way rivalry has helped elevate the trio to rarified air in our sport. Ironically, the more they competitively try and knock each other down the mountain, the higher up the peak all three of them collectively ascend.

Three Metrics: 143 ATP & Grand Slam Matches Between Djokovic, Federer & Nadal

Percentage Points Won

Percentage Games Won

Percentage Sets Won

Two Italian youngsters, 13-year-old Vittoria and 11-year-old Carola, did not expect much when they played rooftop tennis in Finale Ligura, Italy, earlier this year. But after becoming Internet sensations, they got an even more unexpected surprise on 10 July: a visit from Roger Federer.

The 38-year-old Swiss was touched by the young Italians’ perseverance during the COVID-19 lockdown.

“Personally for me, that was a very special moment in my career as a tennis player,” Federer said. “To surprise a fan, or children, like I was able to with Carola and Vittoria today.”

Just incredible to see ?

? Liguria, Italy ?? | #tennisathome pic.twitter.com/dh8bqlvFhj

— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 18, 2020

The original video was an instant hit on social media, earning nearly seven million views on Twitter, 1.3 million views on Facebook and almost 450,000 views on Instagram within a day of publishing. Federer got in on the action, rallying with the girls across the same rooftops.

“It was great. I have played in many cool places around the world. But this is definitely up there for me as a special experience,” Federer said. “We showed that we can play anywhere and have fun with it. I had the best time, honestly.”

In the video, Federer revealed he had another surprise for the girls. In partnership with Barilla, Federer is sending them to the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar for summer camp.

In this episode, Alejandro Tabilo reveals his training regimen during the pandemic, while discussing how technology has played a role in his preparation for the tour’s restart. The 23-year-old also talks about how TikTok videos with his girlfriend have become a viral sensation in Chile.

It’s the question professional athletes have been asking all year… How do you stay in shape during a pandemic?

At a time when quarantines have become the norm and training at an elite level is more of a challenge, finding innovative ways to stay physically and mentally fresh is essential. That is, being prepared for the tour’s resumption while staying motivated, but not overtraining.

This was magnified even further in Canada, where the weather remained too cold to train outdoors for many months. For Toronto native Alejandro Tabilo, a different approach was necessary.

“I tried to make it feel as normal as possible,” said Tabilo. “Right after the tour was suspended in Indian Wells, I went back to Toronto with my girlfriend. She’s a professional tennis player too, so it has been good to have someone to do all the exercises with. But for a while, everything was shut down and we could only do fitness at home. Thankfully we have a little court in our apartment building, so sometimes we would go out and hit. Canada was pretty cold, so it was a struggle to do anything outside.

“I was playing very well right before everything stopped, so that helped, just having those good feelings still in my mind. I stayed home for three months, but I was in contact with my coaches all the time. We had Zoom calls every day to go over different plays, shots and situations. We wanted to keep the competition fresh and I think that helped a lot. And my physio sent some workout videos to stay fit.

“Now, I’m playing exhibition matches and training in Florida, so I haven’t stopped working. I bought a GoPro, so I can stream my matches and training for my coaches and everyone in Chile. I know they’re having a tough time over there.”

Cristian Garin has put Chile back on the tennis map in recent years, lifting four Tour-level trophies and surging inside the Top 20 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. While he is still plotting his ascent on  on the ATP Challenger Tour, Tabilo knows that his time will come in the near future and Chileans everywhere will soon know his name.

Sitting just eight spots off his career-high of No. 166 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, the Chilean-Canadian is steadily making a charge towards the Top 100. Tabilo carried the momentum from a pair of Challenger semi-final appearances into the 2020 season, kicking off the new year in dream fashion.

In January, the 23-year-old would represent his native Chile at the inaugural ATP Cup and qualified for his first Grand Slam, reaching the Australian Open second round with a five-set win over Daniel Elahi Galan. And one month later, in his hometown of Santiago, the 23-year-old made his breakthrough on the ATP Tour. In front of friends and family, Tabilo defeated Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4 at the Chile Dove Men+Care Open.

It was an experience he will never forget and one that gives him great confidence entering the restart.

“In 2019, I had a lot of good results at the ITF level to get into Challengers. That helped a lot and I was able to transition really quick to the Challenger Tour. When I reached my first semi-final in Puerto Vallarta, it helped me with my confidence and I’ve been going up from there.

“And then, I did so well in Australia and that helped to get my name known in Chile. I don’t think it would have been the same reception if I hadn’t had that great result. And then coming back home, everyone was saying ‘who’s this new guy coming up?’. It was a full stadium and everyone was chanting my name. Having my first match in an ATP main draw in Chile and getting that kind of reception was incredible. It’s something that I will never forget.”

In the latest profile on the 26 players to rise to No. 1 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, ATPTour.com looks back on the career of Carlos Moya. View Full List

First week at No. 1: 15 March 1999
Total weeks at No. 1: 2

At World No. 1
Moya’s importance is not to be measured by the time he spent at the pinnacle of the FedEx ATP Rankings, but by his pioneering significance to Spanish tennis. His reign at the top was a turning point for his country. On 15 March 1999, he became the first Spaniard to reach World No. 1 after other players such as Manuel Orantes, Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja had come close to doing so.

The Mallorcan took the No. 1 spot by reaching the final at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. His 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 semi-final victory against Gustavo Kuerten guaranteed that he would dethrone Pete Sampras. The achievement made him the 15th player to in the Open Era to become World No. 1. His stay was brief: two weeks.

Grand Slam Highlights
Moya had only won two matches at Roland Garros when he arrived for his third appearance on the clay of Paris in 1998. Despite that, his name had started to stand out on the ATP Tour and his victory a few months earlier at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo made him one of the favourites to win the Coupe des Mousquetaires. The Spaniard beat Sebastien Grosjean, Jose Imaz-Ruiz, Andrew Ilie and Jens Knippschild en route to the quarter-finals, where he took out World No. 3 Marcelo Rios.

He defeated Felix Mantilla in the semi-finals and sunk Corretja in the final to win the first Grand Slam of his career. Moya, who joined Andres Gimeno, Santana and Bruguera as Roland Garros champions, would reach the quarter-finals three more times (2003, 2004, 2007).

Before his triumph in Paris, he played his first Australian Open in 1997. He was largely unknown to tennis fans at that time, but announced his arrival with a first-round victory against defending champion Boris Becker. He went on to reach the final before falling to top seed Pete Sampras.

He reached the US Open semi-finals in 1998 and narrowly fell to Mark Philippoussis. The grass at Wimbledon proved to be more difficult and he only reached the second week on one occasion (2004).

Nitto ATP Finals Highlights
The Spaniard played in the Nitto ATP Finals five times in three different cities: Hannover, Shanghai and Houston. He came within a few games of taking the title in 1998, but let slip a two-sets lead against Corretja and his fellow Spaniard prevailed 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5. He also advanced out of round-robin play to reach the semi-finals in 1997 and 2002. Although he didn’t advance out of the group stage in 2003 or 2004, he won at least one round-robin match in each year.

ATP Masters 1000 Highlights
Moya made his Masters 1000 debut at 1996 Monte Carlo and it served as the site of several other important career milestones. He reached his first semi-final at this level in 1997 and returned the following year to clinch his maiden Masters 1000 crown. He defeated a pair of Top 10 players in Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Corretja en route to the final before dominating Cedric Pioline 6-3, 6-0, 7-5.

In 2002, he became the first Spaniard in the Open era to prevail in Cincinnati. Moya raced to the title without dropping a set and produced one of his best hard-court performances in the championship match against World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. In 2004, he celebrated his third Masters 1000 title in Rome after a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win in the final against David Nalbandian.

The Mallorcan also played in three other Masters 1000 finals: 1999 Indian Wells (l. to Philippoussis) 2002 Monte-Carlo (l. to Ferrero) and 2003 Miami (l. to Agassi).

Biggest Rivalries
Corretja is the player that Moya most frequently crossed paths with at important junctures of their careers. Moya leads their ATP Head2Head series 7-5, winning all three of their Grand Slam clashes including the 1998 Roland Garros final. However, Corretja also won big matches in their rivalry such as the championship match of the 1998 Nitto ATP Finals.

Moya shared an intense rivalry with another fellow Spaniard in Ferrero, who beat him in all three finals they played (2001 Barcelona, 2002 Monte Carlo and Hong Kong). However, Moya racked up four victories in their last five matches to finish with a 6-8 record in their ATP Head2Head series.

He frequently battled Hewitt (5-8) and split the pair of finals they contested. Moya’s record against Sampras is also among the more interesting of his career. Although his only win in four attempts against Sampras came at the 1997 Nitto ATP Finals, his biggest achievement against the American was dethroning him as World No. 1.

Legacy
Moya represents a turning point in Spanish tennis not only due to his on-court achievements, but also through his solid baseline game that served as a model for many of his peers. He broke ground for Spanish tennis as the first male player from reach his country to become World No. 1 in 1999, paving the way for other Spaniards to do the same including Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.

Overall Match Win-Loss Record: 575-319
Overall Titles/Finals Record: 20-24

Memorable Moment
In January 1997, Carlos Moya was still relatively new to the ATP Tour and only had two tour-level titles to his name. Arriving at the Australian Open with confidence after finishing runner-up the week before in Sydney, he rallied in his first-round match against sixth seed and defending champion Boris Becker to prevail 5-7, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 after three hours and 30 minutes.

But his high-quality tennis did not end there. He went on to defeat Mantilla in the quarter-finals and took out World No. 2 Michael Chang in the semi-finals. Only a spirited performance in the final from Pete Sampras was able to stop him from winning his first Grand Slam crown in Melbourne.

Moya had made a promise to his team if he reached the final, which he delivered on at the trophy ceremony. The Mallorcan ended his speech to the fans in Rod Laver Arena with these words: “Thank you and I hope to see you next year. ‘Hasta luego, Lucas’”. His closing line was a reference to a famous expression popularised by a well-known comedian in Spain at the time (Chiquito de la Calzada). He used the same phrase when announcing his retirement in 2010.

Nadal On Moya
“Moya was a pioneer in this sport. He deserves everybody’s recognition. He has done very significant things in the world of tennis. He was No. 1 in the world, a difficult thing to achieve, won the biggest tournaments… He has contributed greatly to Spanish sport.”

Moya On Moya
“I’ve had a much better career than I would have imagined. Although you have people with you, in the end, you’re alone on the court and in defeat. It’s a very solitary sport but the positive part far outweighs the negative.”

Moya On Becoming World No. 1
“I always believed that winning a Grand Slam was the best thing that could happen to you. But this [being No. 1] surpassed that. There were a lot of players that wanted to dethrone Sampras. There was pressure. And for me, it was the only chance.”

Broadcaster/Journalist Graeme Agars On Moya
Despite preferring clay, Moya became an all-court player during his career, winning ATP Tour events in 11 different countries on three different continents. His gentle demeanour and his dashing good looks also made him a fan favourite wherever he played.

In May 1999, the athletic Spaniard was included by People in their 50 “Most Beautiful People” issue. And it wasn’t just his good looks that earned him praise.

After winning the title in 2005 Chennai, Moya donated his entire winner’s cheque to help those who had suffered from a recent tsunami. That action was one of the reasons he was later awarded the 2005 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award.

Back and foot injuries cut his career short and forced him to retire in 2010, but he’s since been equally successful as a coach and has worked with Rafael Nadal since December 2016.

Marat Safin was one of the most talented players of his generation. On his best day, the Russian was able to hit through anyone standing across the net.

But the former World No. 1 was also known to get upset with himself from time to time and was no stranger to breaking his racquet. On a recent episode of Tennis United, Safin, who laughed about it, revealed that he knew exactly how many racquets he broke.

“I got a snowboard from Head and they wrote it there: 1,055,” Safin said, leaving host Vasek Pospisil and his countryman Yevgeny Kafelnikov in laughter. “They counted each one of them!”

Safin wasn’t the only one, though. He remembers heading into the Barcelona crowd to watch Kafelnikov, another former World No. 1, play a doubles match with Daniel Vacek, with whom the Russian won three Grand Slam titles.

“Vacek serves a double fault. Yevgeny is getting pissed slowly,” Safin recalled. “Vacek makes a second double fault and Yevgeny breaks his racquet!”

While both men laugh recalling those moments, they will be remembered for their results and raising the level of Russian tennis.

“When I became a Top 10 player, Marat was six years younger than me and he wanted to catch up to me, so we had healthy competition between each other and one was driven by another,” Kafelnikov said. “We’ve got three guys who are in the Top 20 [now] and all three are competing with each other. That’s the reason why tennis in Russia is very successful at the moment.”

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov are all inside the Top 15 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. The Russians have all played the Next Gen ATP Finals and they are now proving they can compete against the best players in the world.

“It’s a healthy competition because they are still friends. They go out for dinner together,” Safin said. “They are very nice guys, which is good. They are ready to learn, which is also good.”

Kafelnikov and Safin’s Favourite Memories
Kafelnikov: “Winning the Slams and reaching No. 1 in the world was the pinnacle of my career. They all mean a lot for me.”

Safin: “One is obviously the US Open. The second one is beating Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and then winning Australia. The first one was unexpected and the second one was the workable one. I had a few attempts and it didn’t work for me… Finally, I managed it.”