Gael Monfils defeats Nicolas Mahut in the second round – Moselle Open 2012
Seventh seeded, Gael Monfils successfully summed his straight sets, 7-6(4), 7-5 in the second of the Moselle Open 2012 held at the hard courts of France. He defeated his compatriot, Nicolas Mahut after a close
encounter in one hour and 41 minutes.
The 30-year-old commenced the opener with his excellent game plan and broke his rival’s initial serve, snatching the lead by 3-love. Monfils gradually progressed and confidently broke Mahut’s serve in the seventh
game. After that point, the score line evened out three times, eventually ended up the set 7-6(4) with a close tiebreaker round.
The world number 44, Monfils fired four aces and double faulted six times. He had a moderately better initial serve accuracy of 57 percent, with 18 of 23 points. From the four serve breaks, he could just capitalize
one. On the contrary, his challenger smashed five aces and had an average initial serve presentation of 50 percent. He pocketed away 18 of 21 first and nine of 21 second delivery points.
In the second set the 26-year-old, Monfils grabbed the opportunity and drew the first blood. However, he had to face a tough deal from his fellow citizen and the score line evened down four times. Monfils advanced
without facing any break and stamped his 7-5 win.
Ranked 65th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Mahut, displayed a below average initial serve accuracy of 48 percent, with 14 of 16 first and eight of 17 second serve points. The higher-ranked Frenchman
bombarded his rival with eight aces and had 54 percent initial serve precision. He maintained an exceptional score of 18 of 19 first and seven of 16 second delivery points. From the two serve breaks presented to him he converted just one.
The duo encountered each other for the third time and Monfils marked his 3-0 lead in the head-2-head series. Earlier he defeated Mahut in the second round of the Open de Franche-Comte held at the hard courts
of Besancon, France.
For the next round, the Frenchman will contest against the second seeded German, Philipp Kohlschreiber, who defeated Benoit Paire in the previous round.
Tags: