On the island of Majorca, Friday, Gaël Monfils could have made a little more history. Opposed to the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (24th in the world) in the semi-finals of the ATP 250 tournament in the Balearic Islands, the Parisian was aiming for the 35th final of his career. But above all, and even more notable, he had the opportunity to score a new final on the ATP circuit for the twentieth consecutive season, something only Roger Federer has, so far, accomplished in the Open era. But the Frenchman gave in in the tie-break of the third set (2-6, 6-2, 7-6 [3]), after an intense battle lasting almost two hours.
However, Monfils (40th in the world) entered the match ideally and much faster than Tabilo. Without rushing things, without taking excessive risks, on a surface that does not forgive the slightest edge error in terms of positioning, the Frenchman made the Chilean play, heckled him as he should with a good quality of service on the first and second serve, and a forehand that often hit the mark. With a double break in his pocket and a 4-0 tied up quickly, the “Monf” was perfectly launched in this semi-final.
A little lost on the largely grated Mallorcan turf in the center at the baseline, Novak Djokovic’s scorer on the Roman clay last May had difficulty jostling the Frenchman, in particular multiplying the mistakes on the forehand. In 28 minutes, Monfils opened the first set with a third ace and was aiming for his second final on grass, after the one played and lost in Eastbourne against Djokovic in 2017.
Two break points for Monfils in the third set
Certainly, Tabilo attacked the second set with a greatly increased aggressiveness slider, notably taking the ball earlier and hitting a little more sharply on the forehand side. But Monfils did not panic. Unfortunately, on a service game with two double faults, Monfils put himself in danger for the first time in the match and gave up his shot on a long rally lost on a sliced backhand that was too long. Trailing 4-2, the Frenchman suffered the blow and even dropped the set, 6-2, with a double fault.
In search of a fourth final, the third in 2024 after Auckland (title) and Santiago, Tabilo, the multi-surface Chilean, was invigorated and his first serve suddenly hurt the Frenchman more. But Monfils held his serve without any trouble either. It was on the Chilean side that things were rocking first. A bad choice of attack on the forehand, a big mistake on the backhand and a badly hit smash offered the Frenchman two break points at 2-2! But Monfils pulled off a backhand passing shot from the drop of a hat on the second and let the opportunity slip away.
Good signals before Wimbledon
This undecided story would be resolved in a final decisive game. A tie-break that the Chilean grabbed behind a massive long forehand to make the providential mini-break (4-2). Monfils would not come back and was even close to injuring himself on a desperate slide behind a drop volley, before surrendering on a double fault. For his first final on grass, Alejandro Tabilo will face the Austrian Sebastian Ofner, who got rid of the British qualifier, Paul Jubb, in two sets (6-4, 7-5). For Monfils, this week in Majorca will have nevertheless lit up quite a few good signals before setting foot on the royal turf of the All England Club.
