Tennis News

Gael Monfils is not scared to admit that he is scared.

Four years after his last Davis Cup final against Serbia – a final that the French team lost 3-2 – the world No. 19 with the trademark swashbuckling style is worried that this weekend could be a case of déja vu.

Monfils was a pivotal member of the team four years ago, and won the opening tie against Janko Tipsarevic, but then lost the deciding rubber to novak Djokovic to surrender the title to the Serbian team.

“Honestly, there’s a lot of pressure, and I feel that pressure myself because we really want to do well,” he said. “It is an unusual situation. For me, it’s my second chance to get a point for my country in a final.

“So, yes, I am very scared.”

The Frenchman will begin his campaign against 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. They met twice this season, and while Monfils lost both those matches, he took the world No. 2 to a deciding set in both of them. Their last meeting was a five set thriller at the US Open – a contest that could have easily gone in his favour.

“For sure it will help me, this last match on my mind,” said Monfils. “But this one’s going to be different. You have someone you can share your emotion [with] during the match, the captain who can help me, of course, if maybe I’m tight in the match.

“Definitely I expect to play a big match again because I know I need to play a big match to beat him. I’m very happy to have this opportunity again.”

Following a less-than-stellar conclusion to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, and thus the regular 2014 season, Roger Federer will get a second chance to culminate his season in strong fashion when he spearheads the Swiss team in the Davis Cup final against France. Federer will begin his run against Gael Monfils, whom he has encountered ten times previously on the tour, and leads the head to head series 8-2.

Federer lost an opportunity to win his sixth title of the season and seventh at the year-end championships when he withdrew from the event with a back injury, thus allowing Novak Djokovic to lift the title for a third time in four years. However, the Swiss No. 1, who compiled a 72-11 record on the tour, won three Masters titles, and also reached the final of the Wimbledon Championships, will not allow this latest incident to overshadow his relatively successful season on the tour. He will also not allow it to stop him from securing the only title absent from his trophy cabinet.

“I’m just really pleased that I’m actually able to play tomorrow. I’ll give it a go. Definitely looking forward to playing against Gael. I think he’s a great player, very exciting to watch. I like to play against him, too. “So things have been going very well for me the last week. It’s been a difficult week, but I’m happy where I am today.”

World No. 19 Gael Monfils has only played three tournaments since his last meeting with Federer at the US Open, as he was forced onto the sidelines to recover from an injury. After helping the French Davis Cup team reach the final with a win over Lukas Rosol, he reached the semi-final in Metz and the third round of the Paris Bercy to finish his ATP World Tour season with an entertaining match-up against Novak Djokovic.

“For sure it will help me, this last match on my mind,” said Monfils. “But this one’s going to be different. You have someone you can share your emotion [with] during the match, the captain who can help me, of course, if maybe I’m tight in the match.

“Definitely I expect to play a big match again because I know I need to play a big match to beat him. I’m very happy to have this opportunity again.”

This marks the third time this season that Federer and Monfils will meet on the circuit, with Federer picking up victories at the US Open and the Cincinnati Masters. Federer needed deciding sets in both those matches to beat Monfils and considering we have not been updated on the state of his back, it is easy to assume that this will be another tight, competitive encounter.

Prediction: Roger Federer in Five Sets

The opening rubber on Friday afternoon’s highly anticipated opening day of the Davis Cup final will feature Stan Wawrinka, a player who rushed over from the World Tour Finals to prepare for the event, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has been focused solely on the tournament over the past few weeks. Of their previous five meetings, Tsonga leads the head to head series 3-2. However, the two competitors are 2-2 on clay and have not crossed paths throughout the 2014 season.

Stan Wawrinka’s turbulent run through the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals ended in a heartwrenching finish in his all-Swiss semi-final against Roger Federer, where he failed to convert four match points and eventually surrendered the encounter to his Davis Cup teammate.

“For me, for sure it was tough to lose against Roger with four match points,” said Wawrinka. “But I took a lot of positives from that week. I’m feeling great from London, a lot of confidence from there.”

Wawrinka arrived in Lille via train shortly following his semi-final loss in London and quickly began his training and physio. He is adamant that his loss last week will not negatively impact his performances at this historic final.

“When I came here with the physio and everything, everything was different. It was a new week, a new state of mind. So mentally it was easy for me to switch, to forget about this big disappointment, start on something positive.”

Many assumed that World No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had willingly chosen not to participate in the Paris Bercy or head to London as an alternate in order to maximize his preparation for the Davis Cup final. However, it appears the Frenchman had suffered an arm injury and did not want to risk missing the event.

“If I didn’t play these past weeks, it’s not because I chose not to play,” Tsonga responded. “Secondly, what reassures me is that in the past I didn’t always need to have a lot of competition under my belt to play well.

“So, on the contrary, when I play too many tournaments, sometimes I get tired. Honestly, for me, it is not something that will be a factor this weekend.”

This marks the sixth time that Tsonga and Wawrinka will meet on the professional tour, and the first time on an indoor clay court. With their series tied 2-2 on the red clay, this should make for a competitive encounter and a difficult match-up to predict. However, considering Tsonga has been practicing o this surface for longer, and will be playing in front of a boisterous French crowd, he will have a possible advantage over his Swiss-French opponent.

Prediction: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Five Sets

With his ‘Comeback Player of the Year’ trophy in hand, David Goffin can now look back on his remarkable 2014 season with pride.

The rapidly rising Belgian star, who suffered a season-ending left wrist injury in 2013, made a successful comeback to the tour this season and quickly began his ascent up the ATP rankings. He began the year ranked at NO. 110 and, after several months of inconsistent results, went on to compile a 44-4 match record from July onwards (stat via ATP) to finish the year at a career-high world No. 22.

The second half of his season included a various impressive accomplishments, including his unstoppable month of July where he won three titles in consecutive weeks, including his maiden ATP World Tour title in Kitzbühel.

“I didn’t expect to win so many matches, but match after match I enjoyed a lot the way I played on court and at the end it was a fantastic year so I’m really happy right now,” Goffin said at the on-court award ceremony at the O2 Arena.

The 23-year-old’s list of accomplishments did not end there. Goffin would go on to reach the third round of the US Open, where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov. From there, he would compile another 16-match winning streak that would include a pair of titles at the Mosele Open and the Mons Challenger event.

Goffin would end his season with a runner-up finish to Roger Federer at the Swiss Indoor Basel – a fitting end to his breakthrough 2014 season.

“It’s an honour to win this trophy, but it’s almost impossible without a team and a staff, so I’d like to thank my team for this amazing year,” he said. “It was a fantastic year for me. It’s never easy to come back from injuries and I’m really proud of what I did and I’m ready for next season.”