Gael Monfils suffering from a knee injury; doubtful for France's Davis Cup clash – Tennis News
World number 13, Gael Monfils, is one of the prolific French tennis aces and was scheduled to represent his country in the Davis Cup tournament but a severe knee injury has put his participation in doubt. Apparently he is
not going to make it to the Davis Cup tie against Canada and that is a huge blow for the French squad. He is one of the rare talents that puts his body on the line in order to manufacture results in his favour; a true warrior at the courts.
He admitted heart-brokenly that he is a major doubt to play against Canada. He was severely injured and couldn’t register a successful defence of his Open Sud France title on Sunday. Unwillingly, he landed at the courts against
the top seed, Tomas Berdych, in the final; fought through pain and managed to prolong level the set scores at one set apiece but couldn’t last longer in the third set and lost the encounter with final scores of 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Talking about the match, he stated,
“I was unsure [Saturday] evening [whether to play] because my knee had swollen. I waited until after warming up in the morning to decide.”
Monfils is part of a very strong French team that will visit Vancouver to contest against a weak Canadian squad led by the winner of award of most improved player of the last year, Milos Raonic. He will be tested thoroughly
before the final decision is made and the probability is that he will be replaced by someone else. His condition was terrible during the final against Berdych on Sunday and less can be said about his physical fitness before the Davis Cup tie.
He further added, "I'm going to undergo a little examination before heading for Canada because this knee is ruining my life and I don't want to take any risks for the rest of the season. I don't want to be a burden on the
France team. I'm ready for anything, including just playing the final day."
The French squad is very versatile and strong, including the likes of world number six, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 35th ranked, Julien Benneteau and doubles specialist Michael Llodra. The tie will be played
from 10th to 12th of February at the Thunderbird Sports Centre, Vancouver, Canada. If Monfils fails to recover well in the meantime, there is a probability that French number two, Gilles Simon, will replace him
to complete the French squad. France have the upper-hand with superior players in their squad but upset is possible if Canadian team co-ordinates and plays well.
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