Tennis – Indian Wells: Gaël Monfils and Benjamin Bonzi restore color to the Blues

Gaël Monfils and Benjamin Bonzi continue on their way. And it was with an identical score, 6-4, 6-3, testifying to the same solidity and the same commitment that they showed on the court, that they won to reach the 3rd round. The first, seeded number 28 in Indian Wells, at the expense of Serbian Filip Krajinovic. The second, 62nd in the world, to the detriment of the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (21st).

“I felt pretty good in my game, being true to what I produced at the start of the year. I served well, strong, I hit hard enough, I was aggressive, not to mention not let him play”, explained Monfils afterwards. More powerful and aggressive, he didn’t leave much to his opponent whom he had already beaten in their first two confrontations, managing to break him once per set.

Gaël Monfils was however absent from the courts the whole month of February, due to a health glitch, possibly linked to the third dose of vaccine against Covid-19. This had forced him to forfeit the tournaments in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and for the Davis Cup play-off against Ecuador. Showing a good level of competitiveness from his entry into the running, in a tournament where he reached the quarterfinals in 2016 and the round of 16 in the two previous editions, Monfils nevertheless considers himself to be “recovery phase” before challenging Daniil Medvedev.

Benjamin Bonzi, who is playing the tournament for the first time in the Californian desert, will also have a hard time dealing with the Italian Jannick Sinner (10th). But the 25-year-old Nîmes will have assets to put forward, if he shoots them down as against Sonego, exceeded in aggressiveness. “I’m playing well at the moment, I feel good on the court, I passed this little milestone in Marseille, it did me a lot of good. I can fully play my tennis”, he congratulated himself.

“Sinner, I will have to take him out of his comfort zone, I will try to find things to hinder him. Anyway, it will be the same approach as today, I will have to focus on myself first. “, added Benjamin Bonzi, absolutely not afraid.