Gael Monfils did not drag. Already putting on a show, with three aces to start the first game of the match, then a tweener on a lob (plus a paying run on the drop shot that followed) and a smash jump after rebound in passing to conclude ten minutes on foot at floor. The Frenchman thus completed this second round in 1h29 (6-1, 6-0, 6-4).
Alexander Bublik did not resist the tidal wave. He didn’t even have time to place a few of his favorite charms, wasting his energy grumbling. The Frenchman, impressive, held without difficulty in the rallies, even clocked, chained the mines in the service (11 aces in all) and feasted on forehand attacks of a beautiful dazzling (34 winning blows in total).
3h04 of cumulative play over the first two rounds
In this dynamic and baroque meeting, the Kazakh gave a lot of his to be rolled, unscrewing many of his offensives and committing four double faults on a game giving his opponent the break at the start of the second set. This is how the games scrolled. The first set lasted 24 minutes, then Monfils led two sets to nothing after 52 minutes of play. The third set stretched out a bit. Monfils made the break to break away at 4-3, then saved without trembling two break points in the next game, including one on an impeccable forehand cross attack.
Started at the end of the night at 9:58 p.m., the meeting ended at 11:28 p.m. Monfils had made up for lost time. In his first two rounds (after beating Federico Coria 6-1, 6-1, 6-3), he spent 3:04 on the court. His next opponent, Cristian Garin, fought for 9:14 (!) to get rid of Bagnis and Martinez. Recovery radius, the Frenchman has room.
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