2011 Sony Ericsson Open - ATP Seeds Part XI: Gael Monfils
World Number 11 Gael Monfils
French tennis pro Gael Monfils has been seeded eleventh at next week’s ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami event, also known as the Miami Masters or the Sony Ericsson Open. The player, who is 24 years old, was absent from the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000
event due to injury but seems to have recovered in time to participate in the Miami event. He has been playing tennis professionally for seven years, having joined the Association of Tennis Professionals in 2004.
Monfils reached his highest career ranking yet in 2009, when he became World Number 9 for some time. The right-handed player has won a total of three career titles so far, and he is coached by Roger Rasheed. Gael Monfils is known to his fans as Lamonf.
Gael Monfils has produced mixed results at the Miami Masters. He made his debut on the hard courts in 2005 as World Number 120, one year after turning professional. His run at the event was quite successful; the player managed to defeat players who were
ranked much higher than him, including compatriot Michael Llodra, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Korean pro Hyung-Taik Lee. Slovak Dominik Hrbaty ended his run in straight sets in the fourth round.
Monfils competed in the tournament as a seeded player for the first time in 2006, when he was World Number 29. He could not make it past the second round, where he was defeated by Agustin Calleri. He was unseeded again in 2007, when Simone Bolelli scored
another easy victory over him in the first round. His results were slightly better in 2008, although he was still unseeded. The player defeated American John Isner in the first round, before falling in straight sets to Roger Federer in the second round.
The French player posted his best results in 2009, when he was ranked World Number 10. He capitulated on the bye he received in the first round, practicing hard to beat American Michael Russell in the second round. He also managed a victory over Russian
pro Marat Safin in the third round before falling to American pro Andy Roddick in the fourth round.
Gael Monfils did not take part in the 2010 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami tournament.
This year, Monfils has participated in two tournaments. At the Australian Open, he made it to the third round before being ousted by Stanislas Wawrinka. At the 2011 SAP Open, he managed to make it to the semi-final. However, he was forced to withdraw from
the tournament due to injuries. If he has indeed recovered, the player will probably post good results at Miami.
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