A shock of almost three hours of play and a victory in four sets for Gaël Monfils, against Adrian Mannarino. The Parisian qualified for the second round of Wimbledon.
Gaël Monfils emerged victorious on Monday from the Franco-French clash in the first round of Wimbledon against Adrian Mannarino, whom he beat 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in 2h55.
In the next round, the 37-year-old Parisian, who has not played at Wimbledon since his elimination in the second round in 2021, will face the tournament’s oldest player, the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (95th), 39 years old.
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Monday for his entry into contention against Mannarino, whose grass is the preferred surface, Monfils was notably able to rely on a good service (16 aces and 40% of unreturned serves) and a good attacking game (54 winning shots for 50 unforced errors).
Mannarino saved four match points on his serve at 5-3 before Monfils served to win the match at 5-4 and won in the confusion: his first service point, which Mannarino returned from the frame in the net, was called a foul, but the chair umpire corrected the call and gave the match to Monfils. Mannarino then requested the video challenge which confirmed that the service ball was indeed on the line and that Monfils had won the match.
