Gaël Monfils
Encyclopedia
Gaël Sébastien Monfils (ɡaɛl mɔ̃ˈfis) (born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010
2010 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Michaël Llodra.Robin Söderling won the title, defeating Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round.# Roger Federer ...

 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open
2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 107th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 25 through June 8, 2008....

.

2002

In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the Dutch Junior Open. In the same year, he won the German Junior Open (defeating Bayer). Monfils ended the year ranked the no. 4 junior in the world. He also represented France in the junior Davis Cup.

2003

Monfils got off to a positive start in 2003 and earned his first career ATP point at the France Futures No. 13 by reaching the second round. He also reached the second round at France No. 14, Egypt No. 2, and Spain No. 28. In that year, he played a total of nine Futures events. This included a showing in the doubles final at Spain No. 27. In junior events, he was the runner-up at Orange Bowl (losing to Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...

) and USTA International Winter Championships (losing to Sebastian Rieschick). He reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open juniors tournament (losing to Florin Mergea
Florin Mergea
Florin Mergea is a Romanian tennis player. He won the 2003 Boys' Singles tournament at Wimbledon. He was the runner-up in the 2003 Boys' Singles Tournament at the Australian Open....

) and won the doubles title at the Victorian Junior Championships (with Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna is a French tennis player. While a junior, he reached the final of the 2004 Australian Open. On October 20, 2008, he beat #46 Ivan Ljubičić in the first round of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon as a wild-card entry ranked #182. He then beat #83 Nicolás Lapentti but lost to #10...

). He was no. 21 in junior rankings at the end of the year.

2004

In 2004, the French teenager finished as the world's no. 1 junior, winning three of four junior Grand Slam events (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

). He improved his INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking by over 700 positions. In October, he made his ATP debut as a wildcard entrant in Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

 and reached the quarterfinals, defeating Juwana Doit and Olivier Patience
Olivier Patience
Olivier Patience is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking was No. 87, on 19 July 2004. During 2006, Patience won 3 ATP Challenger Series tournaments. He registered his best performance in a Grand Slam event to date, when he reached the 3rd round at Roland Garros...

, and losing to countryman Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...

. He qualified for the ATP Masters Series in Paris and reached the second round, beating former top-10 player Thomas Enqvist
Thomas Enqvist
Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist is a former professional tennis player from Sweden.He was quickly touted as the only Swede who could follow in the footsteps of Stefan Edberg and Björn Borg, and was ranked as high as No. 4 on the ATP Rankings.Enqvist was a force on the Swedish Davis Cup team...

 before falling to no. 3 Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

. He won junior titles at the Australian Open (defeating Ouanna), French Open (defeating Kuznetsov), and Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 (defeating Kasiri). He did not drop a set in Australia and lost one set each at the French Open and Wimbledon. He reached the third round at the US Open (losing to Troicki). He also won the LTA International Junior Championship in Roehampton (defeating Murray). He was the runner-up at the Australian Hardcourt Junior Championships (losing to Zverev) and was 31–2 in junior events. In April, he reached his first career Futures final at Italy No. 4 (losing to Dlouhy). A week later, he won his first Futures title at Great Britain No. 1 (defeating Bogdanović). He reached the quarterfinals of the Grenoble Challenger. He went 14–6 in Futures and 3–5 in Challengers in 2004.

In doubles, Monfils reached the final at France No. 7 (with Ouanna). He reached the semifinals at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals at the French Open (with Ouanna).

2005

In 2005, the young Frenchman made one of the biggest moves in the top 50 from the previous season, climbing 200 ranking spots. He finished the year as the no. 3 Frenchman (behind no. 16 Richard Gasquet, no. 26 Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien Grosjean
Sébastien René Grosjean is a retired tennis player from France. His career-high ATP Entry ranking is No. 4 . He retired from tennis on May 27, 2010.-Career:...

) and captured his first ATP title, while reaching two other finals.

In the first seven months, he won Challenger titles in Benancon (defeating C. Rochus) and Tunis (defeating Santoro), and also reached the fourth round at the ATP Masters Series Miami (losing to Hrbaty) and a Grand Slam best third round appearance at Wimbledon (losing to Ančić). He compiled a 10–14 record in ATP level play and 12–1 in Challengers through July.

In the last three months, he went 15–8, highlighted by his first ATP clay title at the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot (defeating Mayer). Then he struggled with a 2–5 mark before reaching the final in two of the last three indoor tournaments of the season, both in his native country in Metz
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

 (losing to Ljubičić) and Lyon
Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
The Open Sud de France is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, in October, from 1987 through to 2009, before being relocated to...

 (losing to Roddick). He went 11–4 in tie-breaks and 1–2 vs. top-10 opponents, defeating no. 10 Gastón Gaudio
Gastón Gaudio
Gastón Norberto Gaudio is a former tennis player from Argentina. His career-high ATP ranking was World No. 5 in 2005...

 in his first match of the season in Doha. He compiled records of 12–10 on hard courts, 6–7 on clay, 5–2 on carpet, and 2–3 on grass.

2006

In his first tournament of 2006, in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...

, he reached the final, but lost 3–6, 6–7 to world no. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

. In a surprising event in Las Vegas, there was a tennis paddle tournament held by the Tennis Channel. Monfils was given a wildcard into the doubles event, but became more interested and inquired about getting a singles wildcard into the main draw. However, he received an entry into the qualifying singles (which he won). Monfils competed in the main draw of this Paddle tennis
Paddle tennis
Paddle tennis is a game adapted from tennis and played for over a century. Compared to tennis, the court is smaller and has no doubles lanes, and the net is lower. Paddle tennis is played with a solid paddle as opposed to a strung racquet, and a depressurized tennis ball is used along with an...

 tournament and surprised everyone when he ousted world no. 1 paddle tennis player Scott Freedman and eventually went on to win the whole tournament.

Later on in 2006, Monfils reached the semifinals of the Rome Tennis Masters Series, before losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

. En route to the semifinals, Monfils defeated former world no. 1 Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

. He then entered the ATP Hamburg masters event, where he lost in straight sets to fellow teenager Andy Murray in the first round. After that, he faced Murray once more, this time in the first round of the French Open. After a gruelling five–set battle, Monfils emerged victorious. Monfils then proceeded to play the Belgian Dick Norman
Dick Norman
Dick Norman is a professional tennis player. He has achieved a degree of folk popularity among tennis fans due to his height , his left-handed power game and, in the last few years, his age .Turning professional in 1991, Norman notched up only his 14th Grand Slam...

 in the second round. Once again, the match went to five sets, and Monfils got the better of his formidable opponent. Monfils then faced his toughest opponent yet, the American James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

. Blake was the favourite for the win, as he was eighth seed, while Monfils was 25th seed. However, Monfils defeated Blake in another five-set match. Monfils described this run as a marathon. Blake said of Monfils that 'he was the fastest man on the tour'. The fourth round was Monfils' last, as he lost to Novak Đoković in straight sets. Monfils said after the match: 'I am disappointed that I didn't take the opportunity, but you can expect me to return next year'. Monfils then left the court to a standing ovation.

As a result of his progress at the French Open, Monfils moved up five positions to reach a career high of no. 23. This also made him the no. 1 player in France, two positions ahead of Sébastien Grosjean.

Monfils then entered the Stella Artois Championships, where he won his first-round match against Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 8 on 18 April 2011, and a doubles ranking of no. 6 on 13 September 2010. He is the only current player on the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles. He is a left-handed tennis player, but...

. He then played the American Bobby Reynolds
Bobby Reynolds
----Robert "Bobby" Thomas Reynolds in Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is an American professional tennis player who resides in Acworth, Georgia.-Professional career:...

 and won in straight sets. His third-round encounter was the third time he faced the world no. 4 Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

. Though the odds were against his, Monfils triumphed in straight sets, 7–6, 7–5. His quarterfinal draw was with James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

, whom he had met earlier at the French Open. This time Blake succeeded. After having lost a set, Monfils retired as a result of a back injury. This injury effectively ruled him out of the Nottingham championships the following week.

At the Wimbledon
2006 Wimbledon Championships
The 2006 Wimbledon Championships began on 26 June and finished on 9 July 2006.-Gentlemen's singles: Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3-Ladies' singles: Amélie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6 6-3 6-4...

, Monfils suffered a surprising first-round exit when defeated by Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Kunitsyn
Igor Kunitsyn is a professional male tennis player from Russia. He made it into the top 100 for the first time in 2006, and reached a career-high singles ranking of 35 on July 6, 2009.-Early life:...

. Monfils won the first set, but ended up losing the next three, 7-5, 6-7, 3-6, 4-6.

2007

At the 2007 Australian Open
2007 Australian Open
The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. Over 500 players...

, Monfils lost to his compatriot Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...

 in the third round, 0–6, 6–4, 5–7, 3–6.

Monfils had a good run in Poertschach
Hypo Group Tennis International
The Hypo Group Tennis International was an annual tennis tournament held in Pörtschach, Austria. The event was part of the ATP Tour's ATP International Series. The tournament had been held since 1981, on clay courts.-List of singles winners:...

 as a warm-up for the French Open. He lost in the final against Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco , nicknamed "Pico", is a male tennis player from Argentina. He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 14 on February 4, 2008. He is sponsored by Adidas and Yonex.-Biography:...

 of Argentina in the fourth final of Montfils' career, 6–7, 0–6.

He lost in the third round of the French Open to David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

 in a four-set match.

At the Wimbeldon
2007 Wimbledon Championships
The 2007 Wimbledon Championships were held between 25 June and 8 July 2007. For the first time there was equal prize money for the men's and women's singles champions. Reconstruction work on Centre Court was in progress and thus it had no roof....

, Monfils reached the third round without dropping a set, where he lost to Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

, the sixth seed, in straight sets, 3-6, 5-7, 3-6.

Monfils made it to the semifinals of the 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2007 Legg Mason Tenis Classic was the 38th edition of this tennis tournament and was played on outdoor hard courts. The tournament was part of the International Series of the 2007 ATP Tour. It was held at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington, D.C. from July 30 through August...

, before losing to American John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

 in a 7–6, 6–7, 6–7 match.

Monfils withdrew from the 2007 US Open with a hamstring injury. He also was forced to withdraw from the 2008 Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...

 due to the same injury.

2008

In the French Open, Monfils reached a semifinal berth for the first time in any Grand Slam, becoming the first Frenchman in the semifinals since 2001. Monfils was defeated by top seed Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, 2–6, 7–5, 3–6, 5–7.

A shoulder injury forced Monfils to withdraw from the Wimbledon
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...

 shortly before he was due to play his first-round match.

Monfils was selected to play in the Olympics in Beijing by France, losing to third seed Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

 in the quarterfinals, 6–4, 1–6, 4–6.

At the US Open, Monfils lost in the fourth round to Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

 in straight sets, after having defeated former world no. 3 David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

 again in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–2.

In the Thailand Open
Thailand Open (tennis)
The Thailand Open is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour...

, Monfils reached the semifinals, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 0–6, 3–6.

Monfils lost in the final of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy, 4–6, 4–6, to Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...

 in the final.

2009

Monfils played in Doha
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...

 as his first tournament and caused an upset in the quarterfinals against Nadal, 6–4, 6–4. Monfils lost to finalist Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

 in three sets, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, being up a break in the first set 5–4 and losing it.

In the 2009 Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...

, Monfils lost to fellow Frenchman Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

 in the fourth round, 4–6, 6–2, 1–6, retiring due to a wrist injury.

At the 2009 Abierto Mexicano Telcel
2009 Abierto Mexicano Telcel
The 2009 Abierto Mexicano Telcel was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 16th edition of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, and was part of the 500 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and was in the International category of tournaments on the 2009 WTA Tour...

, Monfils lost in the final to Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle is a professional Spanish tennis player, ranked 10 on the ATP World Tour.-2005:...

, 4–6, 4–6.

Monfils competed at the Monte Carlo Masters, losing in the first round to Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....

 with the score, 3-6, 1-6.

His recent knee injury, caused by Osgood-Schlatter disease
Osgood-Schlatter disease
Osgood–Schlatter disease and or syndrome is an irritation of the patellar tendon at the tibial tuberosity....

, resulted in his withdrawal from the Rome
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...

 and the Madrid Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...

. However, he competed at the Roland Garros, and won his first-round match against Bobby Reynolds
Bobby Reynolds
----Robert "Bobby" Thomas Reynolds in Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is an American professional tennis player who resides in Acworth, Georgia.-Professional career:...

, 6–2, 6–3, 6–1. He then completed another straight-set victory in the second round by overcoming Victor Crivoi
Victor Crivoi
Victor Crivoi is a Romanian tennis player who lives in Bucharest. In 2005, he played in the International Tennis Federation's Professional Circuit and won seven titles. As a result, he was named the ITF's "Player Of The Year" for 2005. At the end of 2005, he was ranked #269 by the ATP, up from...

, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. In the third round, Monfils beat Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 8 on 18 April 2011, and a doubles ranking of no. 6 on 13 September 2010. He is the only current player on the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles. He is a left-handed tennis player, but...

, 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1. Against Melzer, Monfils made one of the most spectacular plays of the tournament, hitting a diving lob back to Melzer, sliding to save another point of Melzer and then putting the point away. He then played a much-anticipated fourth-round match against Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, who made 28 unforced errors and allowing Monfils to win in straight sets, 6–4, 6–2, 6–3. Monfils lost, as in the previous year, to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, this time in the quarterfinals.

Monfils withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championships
2009 Wimbledon Championships
The 2009 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, from Monday 22 June through to Sunday 5 July 2009...

 due to a wrist injury.

Monfils returned to competition at the 2009 Montreal Masters. In his first-round match, he defeated Marat Safin
Marat Safin
Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken...

, 6–2, 3–6, 6–2. He lost to qualifier Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...

 in his second match, 3-6, 6-7, ending his Master Series campaign.

In the 2009 US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...

, he lost to world no. 3 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

 in the fourth round in four sets.

Monfils won the Open de Moselle
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

 held in Metz, France as the top seed. He faced Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...

 in the final and won, 7–6, 3–6, 6–2.

Monfils made the quarterfinals at the Malaysian Open
Malaysian Open (tennis)
The Malaysian Open is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour. It will be held annually in late September, early October at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex in Kuala...

 held in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, despite suffering from jetlag, losing 3-6, 3-6 to Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

.

At the Japan Open
Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships is a tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The championship includes both men's and women's, as well as singles and doubles competitions...

, Monfils reached the semifinal stage, losing to eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

His next tournament was the Shanghai Masters
2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000
The 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 1st edition of the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2009 ATP World Tour...

, losing against Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

 in the third round. He lost the first set 2-6, and then was forced to retire with a back injury, when Ljubicic was leading the second set 3–0. At the Paris Masters, Monfils was defeated the final by Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

, 2–6, 7–5, 6–7.

2010

Monfils began his season at the Brisbane International
Brisbane International
The Brisbane International is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour and of the WTA Premier tournaments of the Women's Tennis Association Tour...

, where he was seeded third. He lost to defending champion, Czech Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

, 2-6, 1-6, in the semifinals. He withdrew from the Medibank International in Sydney, Australia, citing a shoulder injury.

At the 2010 Australian Open
2010 Australian Open
The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year....

, Monfils lost in the round of 32 to John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

 in four sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7.

Monfils was the first seed at the 2010 SA Tennis Open
2010 SA Tennis Open
The 2010 SA Tennis Open was a tennis tournament played on hard courts indoors. It was the 19th edition of the SA Tennis Open and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

, where he lost in the semifinals to Feliciano López
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid....

, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7. He then played in the 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The 2010 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the event known as the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

 in Rotterdam, where he fell in the quarterfinals to the eventual runner-up, Russian Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....

, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6.

Monfils was the third seed at the 2010 Open 13
2010 Open 13
The 2010 Open 13 is a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It's the 17th edition of the Open 13, and is part of the International Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

 in Marseille, France where, in the quarterfinals, he lost to Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau
Julien Benneteau is a professional male tennis player from France. His career-best singles ranking is ATP world no. 32, which he reached in July 2010. He formerly resided in Boulogne Billancourt and now lives in Geneva...

 in straight sets.

At the 2010 BNP Paribas Open
2010 BNP Paribas Open
The 2010 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2010. It was the 36th edition of the event, known this year as the BNP Paribas Open, and is classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on...

, seeded 12th, after receiving a bye in the first round, Monfils lost to Simon Greul
Simon Greul
Simon Greul is a German male tennis player born April 13, 1981. He is 6'1" tall and weighs 176 lbs . His career high rank was #55, achieved on March 22, 2010.-Career:...

 in three sets.

Monfils withdrew from three consecutive Masters 1000 events, the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...

, the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, a tennis tournament for male professional players, was played from April 10 through April 18, 2010, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 104th edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, which is sponsored by Rolex for the second time...

, and the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2010 WTA Tour...

 in Rome. He was set to return at the 2010 Estoril Open
2010 Estoril Open
The 2010 Estoril Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 21st edition of the Estoril Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the International-level tournaments of the 2010 WTA Tour...

 and receive a wildcard, but withdrew due to a stomach injury.

He finally made his return at the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
The 2010 Madrid Masters was played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from May 7 – May 16. It was the 9th edition of the event on the ATP and 2nd on the WTA...

 and reach the quarterfinals without losing a set, but there he lost, 1-6, 3-6, to the third seed Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

. He then played at the 2010 Open de Nice Côte d'Azur in Nice, France, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Potito Starace
Potito Starace
Potito Starace is an Italian professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved his career-high ranking of 27th on October 15, 2007 and prefers to play on red clay...

, 6-7, 2-6. His next tournament was the 2010 French Open
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 109th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...

, where he had reached the quarterfinals the year before. He was up two sets and a break, before being upset by Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini
Fabio Fognini is a professional tennis player.He is the current Italian No. 1. He achieved his career high rank of No. 32 in the world on 20 June 2011 as a result of his success at the 2011French Open...

, 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 7-9, in a match over two days.

Starting his grass-court season, Monfils lost in the second round at the 2010 AEGON Championships
2010 AEGON Championships
The 2010 AEGON Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 39th edition of the AEGON Championships and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Queen's Club in London, United Kingdom, from June 7 through June 13,...

 to Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler
Rainer Schüttler is a German professional tennis player, ranked World No. 113 in the ATP rankings. He is the last German player who reached a final in a grand slam tournament....

 in three sets, 3-6, 7-6, 2-6. Playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2007, he won his first match in straight sets against Leonardo Mayer
Leonardo Mayer
Leonardo Martin Mayer is an Argentine professional tennis player.Mayer achieved a singles career high of world no. 51 on June 7, 2010. His career high in doubles was world no. 94 on March 1, 2010.http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/player.asp?player=100049039 He is coached by Emiliano Redondi...

, 6–1, 7–6, 6–2, and his second round match in four sets against Karol Beck
Karol Beck
Karol Beck is a male tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. He has been ranked as high as 36th in the world .- Career :On October 25, 2004, Beck lost in the final of the St...

, 6–4, 6–4, 6–7, 6–4. He eventually lost to grass-court specialist and former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

 in straight sets, 3-6, 6-7, 4-6. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam in which Monfils has yet to pass the third round.

At the 2010 MercedesCup
2010 MercedesCup
The 2010 MercedesCup was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 32nd edition of the MercedesCup, and is part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...

, he reached his first final of the year by beating Daniel Gimeno-Traver in three sets, 6–4, 4–6, 6–0. He was forced to retire in the final against Albert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...

.

At the 2010 US Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....

, he lost to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

, 6-7, 1-6, 2-6, in the quarterfinals. It was his first quarterfinals at a major besides the French Open. He is also the first Frenchman to make the US Open quarterfinals since Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément
Arnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...

 in 2000. Monfils was runner-up at the Rakuten Japan Open, losing to Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

, 1-6, 5-7. At the Open de Sud, Monfils won his third tournament, defeating Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

, 6–2, 5–7, 6–1.

Monfils was seeded 12th in the BNP Paribas Masters, where he lost to Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

, 1-6, 6-7, in the final.

2011

Monfils started 2011 with the AAMI Kooyong Classic
AAMI Kooyong Classic
The AAMI Classic is a professional tennis exhibition singles-only tournament, played on outdoor hard courts. It is held annually in January, right before the Australian Open, at the Kooyong Stadium in Kooyong, Melbourne, Australia...

, where, in the final, he lost to Australian former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

, 5-7, 2-6. Monfils was seeded 12th in the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...

, where he was defeated in the third round by Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

 of Switzerland, 6-7, 2-6, 3-6.

Next, Monfils played the 2011 SAP Open
2011 SAP Open
The 2011 SAP Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 122nd edition of the SAP Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...

. He was able to reach the semifinals, before he had to withdraw with a left wrist injury that had been affecting him since January.

In the 2011 French Open, Monfils defeated seventh seed David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

, 6–4, 2–6, 7–5, 1–6, 8–6, to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he lost to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

, 4-6, 3-6, 6-7.

Monfils entered Wimbledon 2011 as the ninth seed. In the first round, he defeated Matthias Bachinger
Matthias Bachinger
Matthias Bachinger is a professional tennis player from Germany who turned professional in 2005. His career high rank was No. 85, achieved on August 15, 2011.-Professional career:...

 of Germany, 6–4, 7–6, 6–3. In the second round, he defeated Grega Zemlja
Grega Žemlja
Grega Žemlja is a tennis player from Slovenia.Žemlja reached his highest world ranking #111 in singles and #252 in doubles. He lives in Kranj, Slovenia...

, 4–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6. Monfils was defeated in the third round by Lukasz Kubot
Lukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot born May 16, 1982 in Bolesławiec, Poland, is a professional male tennis player from Poland. Kubot reached his highest singles ranking of World No...

 of Poland, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 3–6.

At the 2011 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
2011 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2011 Legg Mason Tennis Classic was a tennis tournament to played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 43rd edition of this event and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the William H.G...

 in Washington DC, he reached the finals with victories over Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting is a Bahamian-born American professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Sweeting was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and has lived and trained in Ft. Lauderdale since the age of 12...

, Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....

, Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....

, and John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...

. He lost to Radek Stepanek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

 in the final, 4-6, 4-6.

He reached the quarterfinals of both the 2011 Rogers Cup
2011 Rogers Cup
The 2011 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament to be played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 122nd edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...

 and the Western & Southern Open
2011 Western & Southern Open
The 2011 Cincinnati Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, near Cincinnati, United States. The tournament was a joint men's and women's event, with six new courts being built for the tournament...

 in Cincinnati, where he lost to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

.

At the US Open
2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...

, he lost in the second round to Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...

 after a hard-fought match, 6-7(5), 7-5, 7-6(5), 4-6, 4-6.

Personal life

Gaël is nicknamed "La Monf", or occasionally "Sliderman" due to his unusual sliding technique, especially on clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...

 surfaces. He is of Caribbean heritage: his father, Rufin, a former football player employed as an agent for France Telecom, comes from the island of Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

, France
Département d'outre-mer
An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. They have the same political status as metropolitan departments. As integral parts of France and the European Union, overseas departments are represented in the National Assembly, Senate, and Economic and Social...

. His mother, Sylvette, comes from the island of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, France
Département d'outre-mer
An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. They have the same political status as metropolitan departments. As integral parts of France and the European Union, overseas departments are represented in the National Assembly, Senate, and Economic and Social...

 and is a nurse. He also has one younger brother, Daryl.

Monfils considers Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...

 to be his favorite player. He is fond of listening to music, particularly R&B. If he did not play tennis, he would play basketball. He is a huge fan of NBA team Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...

 and his favorite basketball player is Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Anthony
Carmelo Kiyan Anthony , nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association...

. His best friends are countrymen and former juniors Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna
Josselin Ouanna is a French tennis player. While a junior, he reached the final of the 2004 Australian Open. On October 20, 2008, he beat #46 Ivan Ljubičić in the first round of the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon as a wild-card entry ranked #182. He then beat #83 Nicolás Lapentti but lost to #10...

 and Paterne Mamata and fellow pros Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...

, Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Monfils is also a fan of football and his two favorite football clubs are Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 and Paris-Saint Germain.

He was coached by countryman and former ATP pro Thierry Champion
Thierry Champion
Thierry Champion is a former professional tennis player from France.During his career, Champion reached the quarter-finals at the French Open in 1990 and at Wimbledon in 1991....

 (since September 2004) but they parted company in September 2006. Nevertheless, Monfils's fitness trainer is still Rémi Barbarin. Monfils announced a partnership with a new coach, Tarik Benhabiles
Tarik Benhabiles
Tarik Benhabiles is a former French tennis player. He achieved his highest ATP-ranking on June 8, 1987, when the right-hander was listed as the number 22 player in the world....

, in May 2007. However, for the 2008 season, Monfils has hired Roger Rasheed
Roger Rasheed
Roger Rasheed is a former Australian rules football player, tennis player, tennis coach, and tennis commentator. He is Australian of Lebanese descent. Rasheed is perhaps best known as the coach of tennis player Lleyton Hewitt from June 2003 until January 2007...

 as his coach. In 2011, Monfils parted ways with Rasheed and announced that his fitness coach, Patrick Chamagne would take the reins as his new fulltime coach.

He has tattoos on both wrists, and giant wing tattoos on the lower half of his back.
Monfils also appeared in the music video for "Hello" by Martin Solveig and Dragonette. He arrives at the end.

Monfils has dated French tennis player Alize Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...

 and Slovak tennis player Dominika Cibulkova
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková is a Slovak professional tennis player. She is also a former World Junior No. 3, achieving that ranking in May 2005. Her career-high ranking of World No. 12 was achieved on 6 July 2009...

. He currently lives in Nyon, Switzerland with his Australian girlfriend Chelsea

Career record against top 10

The following is Gaël Monfils' record against top 10 players (#1 in bold):
  • Andy Roddick
    Andy Roddick
    Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

    : 5–3
  • Marat Safin
    Marat Safin
    Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken...

    : 4–0
  • Radek Štěpánek
    Radek Štepánek
    Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

    : 4–3
  • Janko Tipsarević
    Janko Tipsarevic
    Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....

    : 4–2
  • David Nalbandian
    David Nalbandian
    David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...

    : 3–1
  • Richard Gasquet
    Richard Gasquet
    Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...

    : 3–3
  • Ivan Ljubičić
    Ivan Ljubicic
    ----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

    : 3–4
  • Arnaud Clément
    Arnaud Clément
    Arnaud Clément is a professional tennis player from France. His best achievement is reaching the final of the 2001 Australian Open.-Career:Clément was born in Aix-en-Provence, and currently lives in Geneva, Switzerland...

    : 2–0
  • David Ferrer
    David Ferrer
    David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...

    : 3–0
  • Gastón Gaudio
    Gastón Gaudio
    Gastón Norberto Gaudio is a former tennis player from Argentina. His career-high ATP ranking was World No. 5 in 2005...

    : 2–0
  • Fernando González
    Fernando González
    ----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...

    : 2–0
  • Fernando Verdasco
    Fernando Verdasco
    Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...

    : 2–0
  • Sébastien Grosjean
    Sébastien Grosjean
    Sébastien René Grosjean is a retired tennis player from France. His career-high ATP Entry ranking is No. 4 . He retired from tennis on May 27, 2010.-Career:...

    : 2–1
  • Stanislas Wawrinka
    Stanislas Wawrinka
    Stanislas Wawrinka is a Swiss professional tennis player. He also holds German citizenship as his father is German. His career ranking high is no. 9, achieved on 9 June 2008. He considers clay his best surface and his backhand his best shot...

    : 2–1
  • James Blake
    James Blake
    James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...

    : 2–2
  • Nikolay Davydenko
    Nikolay Davydenko
    Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...

    : 2–2
  • Lleyton Hewitt
    Lleyton Hewitt
    Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...

    : 2–3
  • Marin Čilić
    Marin Cilic
    Marin Čilić , is a Croatian professional tennis player. His career high ATP ranking is no. 9, achieved on 22 February 2010, following his best-ever performance at a Grand Slam, reaching the semi-finals in the 2010 Australian Open...

    : 1–0
  • Thomas Enqvist
    Thomas Enqvist
    Thomas Karl Johan Enqvist is a former professional tennis player from Sweden.He was quickly touted as the only Swede who could follow in the footsteps of Stefan Edberg and Björn Borg, and was ranked as high as No. 4 on the ATP Rankings.Enqvist was a force on the Swedish Davis Cup team...

    : 1–0
  • Thomas Johansson
    Thomas Johansson
    Karl Thomas Conny Johansson , commonly known as Thomas Johansson, is a former Swedish professional tennis player. He is a former Australian Open singles champion and Olympic silver medalist in doubles.-Junior career:...

    : 1–0
  • Marcos Baghdatis
    Marcos Baghdatis
    At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...

    : 1–1
  • Jonas Björkman
    Jonas Björkman
    Jonas Lars Björkman is a former World Number 4 Swedish professional tennis player. He is also a former World No. 1 in doubles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup Doubles championships....

    : 1–1
  • Tommy Haas
    Tommy Haas
    Tommy Haas is a German and recently naturalized American professional tennis player. He has competed on the ATP Tour since 1996. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high ranking of world no...

    : 1–1
  • Tommy Robredo
    Tommy Robredo
    Tommy Robredo Garcés is a Spanish professional tennis player. On 8 May 2006, he broke into the world's top ten for the first time. His highest singles ranking to date is No...

    : 1–2
  • Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: 1–2
  • Andy Murray: 2–3
  • Roger Federer
    Roger Federer
    Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

    : 1–6
  • Rafael Nadal
    Rafael Nadal
    Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

    : 1–8
  • Tomáš Berdych
    Tomáš Berdych
    Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...

    : 0–1
  • Guillermo Cañas
    Guillermo Cañas
    Guillermo Ignacio Cañas , often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He was born in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. His highest singles ranking was 8th . After retirement Cañas took on coaching, he...

    : 0–1
  • Juan Carlos Ferrero
    Juan Carlos Ferrero
    Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat is a professional tennis player, and a former world no. 1 player, from Spain. He captured the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year, he became the 21st player to hold the world no. 1 ranking. He was also the runner-up at the 2002...

    : 0–1
  • Rainer Schüttler
    Rainer Schüttler
    Rainer Schüttler is a German professional tennis player, ranked World No. 113 in the ATP rankings. He is the last German player who reached a final in a grand slam tournament....

    : 0–1
  • Gilles Simon
    Gilles Simon
    Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...

    : 0–1
  • Mario Ančić
    Mario Ancic
    Mario Ančić is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He won three singles titles and five doubles titles. His highest international ranking came during the 2006 ATP Tour, when he reached no. 7 in singles...

    : 0–2
  • Robin Söderling
    Robin Söderling
    Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

    : 0–3
  • Mikhail Youzhny
    Mikhail Youzhny
    Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....

    : 0–3
  • Novak Djokovic
    Novak Djokovic
    Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

    : 0–8
  • Mardy Fish
    Mardy Fish
    Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...

    : 0–1

Playing style and equipment

Monfils is usually described as a defensive counter-puncher who likes to stand far back from the baseline and retrieve every shot until he forces an error from his opponent or maneuvers around to hit a clean winner. Monfils is well known for his athleticism, which has been compared to Rafael Nadal's, and his court coverage. However, his ability to go from defense to offense very quickly often takes his opponents by surprise. Although Monfils is mostly a defensive player, he occasionally demonstrates that he is capable of generating significant pace on his groundstrokes, particularly his forehand. He has set the record for the fastest forehand ever hit at 120 mph. During his own service games, he tends to go for an ace or a one-two combination to finish off the points early. Only when he is forced to play an extended rally (usually on his opponent's serve) does he retreat to a counter-punching position. He is also known for dancing to celebrate victories.
Monfils possesses a huge serve capable of reaching over 140 mph. Tennis commentators have noted that during his time on the junior tour, he imitated the service motion of Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

, though Monfils himself disputes copying Roddick's serve. He now has a service motion that appears very similar to Roddick's. Monfils was sponsored by Nike for clothes and shoes but changed to K-Swiss
K-Swiss
K-Swiss, Inc. is an American footwear company based in Westlake Village, California. The company designs, develops, and markets a range of athletic shoes under the K-Swiss brand.- History :...

 in 2010 and was sponsored by Head
Head (company)
Head N.V. is a sports equipment and clothing company, known mainly for their alpine skis and tennis racquets. Founded as a ski company in Baltimore, Maryland, the company is currently headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Kennelbach, Austria...

 for racquets but changed to Prince
Prince Sports
Prince Sports, Inc., based in Bordentown, New Jersey, is a manufacturer of equipment for racquet sports, primarily for tennis, badminton, and squash....

 in 2009. His current racquet of choice is the Prince EXO3 Rebel 956. His current string of choice is the Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power 16L String.

Singles: 2 (0 Titles, 2 Runner-ups)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Runner-up |2009 Paris Hard (i)   Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

2–6, 7–5, 6–7(3–7)
Runner-up |2010
2010 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Michaël Llodra.Robin Söderling won the title, defeating Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round.# Roger Federer ...

Paris (2) Hard (i)   Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

1–6, 6–7(1–7)

Singles: 15 (4-11)

EWLINE
Legend (pre/post 2009)
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–2)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–4)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (4–5)
EWLINE
Finals by Surface
Hard (3–7)
Clay (1–3)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–1)

Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 1 August 2005   Sopot
Orange Warsaw Open
The Orange Warsaw Open is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Poland as part of the ATP Tour. The tournament is played on clay courts. From 1992 to 2007, the tournament was held in Sopot, before moving to Warsaw for 2008...

, Poland
Clay   Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer is a German professional tennis player. He plays on both the ATP Tour and the Challenger Tour. He has won nine Challenger events, which has helped him stay in the top 50 on the rankings....

7–6(8–6), 4–6, 7–5
Runner-up 1. 9 October 2005   Metz
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

, France
Hard (i)   Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....

6–7(7–9), 0–6
Runner-up 2. 30 October 2005   Lyon
Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
The Open Sud de France is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, in October, from 1987 through to 2009, before being relocated to...

, France
Carpet (i)   Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....

3–6, 2–6
Runner-up 3. 8 January 2006   Doha, Qatar Hard   Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...

3–6, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up 4. 20 May 2007   Pörtschach
Hypo Group Tennis International
The Hypo Group Tennis International was an annual tennis tournament held in Pörtschach, Austria. The event was part of the ATP Tour's ATP International Series. The tournament had been held since 1981, on clay courts.-List of singles winners:...

, Austria
Clay   Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco
Juan Mónaco , nicknamed "Pico", is a male tennis player from Argentina. He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 14 on February 4, 2008. He is sponsored by Adidas and Yonex.-Biography:...

6–7(3–7), 0–6
Runner-up 5. 4 October 2008   Vienna
BA-CA TennisTrophy
The Erste Bank Open is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit . It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...

, Austria
Hard (i)   Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...

4–6, 4–6
Runner-up 6. 28 February 2009   Acapulco
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
The Abierto Mexicano Telcel is a tennis tournament held in Acapulco, Mexico. It is an event on both the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour...

, Mexico
Clay   Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle is a professional Spanish tennis player, ranked 10 on the ATP World Tour.-2005:...

4–6, 4–6
Winner 2. 27 September 2009   Metz
Open de Moselle
The Open de Moselle is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It has been held annually since 2003. The venue for the tournament was the Arènes until 2010 and is now the Parc des Expositions since 2011...

, France
Hard (i)   Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...

7–6(7–1), 3–6, 6–2
Runner-up 7. 15 November 2009   Paris, France Hard (i)   Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...

2–6, 7–5, 6–7(3–7)
Runner-up 8. 18 July 2010   Stuttgart, Germany Clay   Albert Montañés
Álbert Montañés
Albert Montañés Roca is a professional tennis player from Spain.He first entered the top-100 in 2001 and has been in the top-100 for all but 20 weeks since then...

2–6, 2–1, ret.
Runner-up 9. 10 October 2010   Tokyo, Japan Hard   Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...

1–6, 5–7
Winner 3. 31 October 2010   Montpellier, France Hard (i)   Ivan Ljubičić 6–2, 5–7, 6–1
Runner-up 10. 14 November 2010   Paris, France Hard (i)   Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...

1–6, 6–7(1–7)
Runner-up 11. 7 August 2011   Washington D.C.
Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The Legg Mason Tennis Classic is an annual late-summer men's tennis tournament played in Washington, D.C. as part of the ATP Tour. It was first held in 1969. It was later known as the Sovran Bank Classic. . Originally an event of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour and part of the Grand Prix Championship...

, U.S
Hard   Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...

4–6, 4–6
Winner 4. 23 October 2011   Stockholm
Stockholm Open
The If Stockholm Open is a tennis event on the ATP Tour held in Stockholm, Sweden in the end of October or beginning of November each year. The organizer of the tournament is The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm....

, Sweden
Hard (i)   Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen is a professional tennis player from Finland.His highest ranking is 13th, which was achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won one ATP singles title and two doubles titles in his career so far. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarter-finals...

7–5, 3–6, 6–2

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. Qualifying matches and Walkover
Walkover
In British English, a walkover or W.O. is the awarding of a victory to a contestant because there are no other contestants, or because the other contestants have been disqualified or have forfeited. The term can apply in sport, but can also apply to elections...

s are neither official match wins nor losses. This table is current as far as the 2011 BNP Paribas Masters
2011 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2011 BNP Paribas Masters was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 40th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ATP World Tour...

.
Tournament2004
2004 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.- January :...

200520062007
2007 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-January:...

2008
2008 ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-Schedule:This...

2009
2009 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 2009 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

2010
2010 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

2011
2011 ATP World Tour
The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2011 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World...

|W–L
Grand Slams
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...

Australian Open
Australian Open
The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court...

A 2R 1R 3R A 4R 3R
2010 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but retired due to a right knee injury trailing 3–6, 6–7, 0–3 in the quarterfinals against Andy Murray.Roger Federer met Andy Murray in the final of this event...

3R
2011 Australian Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament by defeating Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 in the final. It was Djokovic's 2nd title at the Australian Open, with this title bearing many resemblances to his title in 2008. Djokovic...

10–6
French Open LQ 1R 4R 3R SF QF
2009 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost in the fourth round to Robin Söderling. This was Nadal's first ever defeat at the French Open, having won the title in all six of his other appearances...

2R
2010 French Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, which allowed him to make a second-successive final here. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.Rafael Nadal won his fifth...

QF
2011 French Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever...

19–7
Wimbledon A 3R 1R 3R A A 3R
2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall....

3R
2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No...

8–5
US Open A 1R 2R A 4R 4R QF
2010 US Open – Men's Singles
Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August...

2R
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...

12–6
Win–Loss 0–0 3–4 4–4 6–3 8–2 10–3 9–4 9–4 49–24
Year-End Championships
ATP World Tour Finals A A A A A A A 0–0
ATP Masters Series
ATP Masters Series
The ATP Masters Series was a series of nine tennis tournaments that formed part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America...

Indian Wells Masters
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....

A 2R 3R 1R 1R 2R 2R
2010 BNP Paribas Open – Men's Singles
The Men's singles tournament of this event started in the week of March 8. It was the year's first of nine tournaments in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series.Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but he lost to Ivan Ljubičić in the semifinals....

A 2–6
Miami Masters
Miami Masters
The Miami Masters is an annual tennis tournament for men and women held in Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida. It is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the men's tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the women's tour and is played on hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park...

A 4R 2R 1R 2R 4R A A 6–5
Monte Carlo Masters A 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R A 3R
2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters – Singles
Rafael Nadal was the six-time defending champion and defended his title by beating compatriot David Ferrer 6–4, 7–5. This was Nadal's 7th consecutive title in Monte-Carlo, which is the all-time record both for consecutive titles at any tournament and the most titles at this tournament.-Seeds:The...

3–6
Rome Masters
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...

A A SF 1R LQ A A A 4–2
Madrid Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...

A 1R 1R A QF A QF
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, but Rafael Nadal defeated him 4–6, 6–7, in the final.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Murray...

2R 7–5
Canada Masters
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...

A A A A 1R 2R 3R QF
2011 Rogers Cup – Men's Singles
Andy Murray was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Kevin Anderson in the second round.World No.1 Novak Djokovic won his 10th Masters 1000 title of his career and his 9th title of the year, beating Mardy Fish in the final 6–2, 3–6, 6–4...

5–4
Cincinnati Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...

A 3R 2R A 2R 1R 1R
2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters – Singles
Roger Federer became the first player since Andre Agassi in 1996 to have successfully defended the title. He defeated Mardy Fish in the final 6–7, 7–6, 6–4. It was his 4th win at the event also winning in 2005, 2007, and 2009...

QF
2011 Western & Southern Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals.Andy Murray won the tournament beating No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 3–0 ret. It was the 7th ATP Masters 1000 title of Murray's career, and his first in 2011...

6–6
Shanghai Masters
Shanghai Masters (tennis)
The Shanghai Masters is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour. It is held annually in October at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, People's...

Not ATP Masters Series 3R 2R
2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000 – Singles
Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion, but lost in the second round to Mischa Zverev.Andy Murray won this tournament, by beating Roger Federer 6–3, 6–2 in the final.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round....

A 3–2
Paris Masters
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour...

2R A 1R A 3R F F
2010 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Novak Djokovic was the defending champion, but lost in the third round to Michaël Llodra.Robin Söderling won the title, defeating Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round.# Roger Federer ...

2R
2011 BNP Paribas Masters – Singles
Robin Söderling was the defending champion, but could not participate due to mononucleosis.Roger Federer won the title, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–1, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:All seeds received a bye into the second round....

10–6
Hamburg Masters
Hamburg Masters
The German Open Hamburg, established in 1892, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. Originally a Grand Prix Tennis Tour event between 1978 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix Championship...

A A 1R A A NM1 0–1
Win–Loss 1–1 6–5 6–8 0–4 8–7 9–7 10–6 6–5 46–43
Career Statistics
Titles 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 4
Finals 0 3 1 1 1 3 4 2 15
Win–Loss 3–2 27–23 20–19 21–21 31–18 42–17 46–20 38–16 225–136
Win % 60% 54% 51% 50% 63% 71% 70%
Year-End Ranking 239 30 46 38 14 13 12 15

External links

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