AFP afpji

Monfils stuns Nadal in Doha

Thu 08 Jan, 05:06 PM


DOHA (AFP) - France's Gael Monfils defeated world No.1 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open here on Thursday.

It was the first time that the 22-year-old Parisian had defeated the Spaniard having lost in straight sets in their three previous meetings.

Monfils, ranked 13th in the world, will play top American Andy Roddick on Friday for a place in the final.

 

Comment 1 - 15 of 15

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. lets go Roddick lets go Andy to win

    From oweno, on Thu 8 Jan 9:49PM

  2. Nadal IS a very good player on hard. Players who are­ not very good don't get the results that he got in­ 2008: Semi-finalist in Australia, Indian Wells,­ Cincinnati, Flushing Meadows and Madrid, Finalist in­ Miami, Winner in Toronto and Olympic Champion in­ Beijing. He was the most consistent player of 2008 on­ hard. It's undoubtedly the surface on which Nadal­ is most vulnerable, but he IS still extremely good on­ it. I don't really fancy him to win the Australian­ Open, so he probably will and his record shows that­ it's far from impossible. Great win for Monfils. On­ the occasions I've watched him, he always seems to­ have a clear game plan. I'm not big into image, but­ I like his. The victory dance is cool. He beat Roddick­ in Madrid so he's got a fair chance tomorrow.­ Depends a bit on how Roddick serves, I guess. Cheers

    From rhymes450, on Thu 8 Jan 9:49PM

  3. Oh Santoro, where are you ?!

    HE HE HE !

    From Igor K, on Thu 8 Jan 8:32PM

  4. nadal lost bcus he is uncomfortable wif his attire.he­ should stick wif his sleeveless tshirt..wif his stupid­ yellow polo tee..he look like a schoolboy.

    From nthk8, on Thu 8 Jan 7:12PM

  5. Nadal got battered just like he did at aussie open by­ tsonga...
    It's a french thang guys.Nadal's game­ is up.He will not win aussie open.
    2009 is the return­ of the yankee boy ANDY RODDICK YOU HEARD IT HERE­ FIRST........Peace..

    From Jaye D, on Thu 8 Jan 6:25PM

  6. Outclassed, I think is the word here.

    From avanze, on Thu 8 Jan 6:04PM

  7. Monfils played fantastic game, his forehand was awesome­ in this game. but nadal didint play that well...

    From haapala1, on Thu 8 Jan 5:12PM

  8. nadal is the best and he will be

    From marianna9203, on Thu 8 Jan 5:09PM

  9. I watched the match and although Nadal wasnt at his­ very best, Monfils played a superb match. He got all­ his tactics spot on. In the previous encounters between­ the two, Monfils had won just 3 games in 3 mathces.­ This was by the far the best match Monfils has played­ in a long time.

    From JJ f, on Thu 8 Jan 5:05PM

  10. I read comments made on a French Canadian blog by­ readers who watched the match on internet streaming.­ Apparently Monfils varied his strokes, had strong­ accelerations, used a lot of flat strokes, and had­ Nadal pushed back behing the baseline. The type of game­ that troubles Nadal on hard surfaces. On the face of it­ this reminds me of Murray's match against Nadal at­ the USO. Also, Monfils went through an gruelling­ training regimen recently, including being woken in the­ middle of the night to go play 90 minutes of tennis, to­ toughen him up. Said his trainer, apparently: the­ training either make or break him. And finally, they­ reported that he's added some 6 kilos of muscle.­ Impressive if true.

    I'm a long-time Nadal fan, and­ much success on hardcourts this year. Won't be easy­ with all the strong competitors. Nadal, on his end,­ more often than not achieves what he works hard at.

    From Lubo, on Thu 8 Jan 5:05PM

  11. @durandinho i watched the game and I can say that­ I've never seen anyone put so much pressure on­ nadal like monfils did with his booming forehand.If he­ can keep hil level this way he will be a tough one to­ beat...

    From rockkatona, on Thu 8 Jan 5:04PM

  12. To hold on to the no.1 spot come november, Nadal's­ got to be better throughout this year than he was last­ year. True, he didn't win a tournament till­ (March?) of last year but he's got to be pushing­ from the beginning if he really wants to be no.1 at the­ end of the season. Well done anyway, Monfils!!

    From Belyab, on Thu 8 Jan 5:02PM

  13. @ Durandinho ,monfils was great.this is the best match­ for monfils from along time .

    From in-motion, on Thu 8 Jan 4:34PM

  14. Nadal is still not a very good Hard Court player. I­ think while he is unbeatable on clay he is the worst on­ Hard of the Gr8 4 (Fedex Murray Nole and Nadal)

    From mauricechlela, on Thu 8 Jan 4:33PM

  15. did someone watch the game?
    I would like to know please­ if Nadal was bad or Monfils played too good?

    This­ year starts with surprises...
    Well done Monfils! Sorry­ Nadal

    From Durandinho, on Thu 8 Jan 4:31PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account