This year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals features plenty of regular faces making their annual appearance at the O2, but one of the most popular veterans in tennis is also making his deserved debut at the season finale, which begins at The O2 in London on 13 November. Gael Monfils qualified for the first time after producing a career-best season in 2016. Having started the year at No. 25 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, the 30-year-old Frenchman now sits at a career-high standing of No. 6. Monfils largely attributes the remarkable run of form he’s had this year to his team. “[Coach] Mikael [Tillstrom] helped me a lot, but my fitness coach gets a lot of credit as well. They’ve...
Watch as Andy Murray, Gael Monfils, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic Skype in to join host Rob Curling for the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals draw ceremony.
Just short of 100 aces for the week, including 28 in the final. You said after your semi-final yesterday that you weren’t thrilled with how you served. How did you feel you served today? I served much better today than yesterday, for sure. [Ruben] was a tough returner. I hit a lot of aces, but part of it is that I played a lot more points on my serve. Even if I did hit my spot, he was taking cuts at the ball and was dangerous. He was a nightmare for me today. You only had one look at break chances today as well. I was one for five today, but all of those came in one game. If you...
You’re 20-0, five straight Challenger titles through 2016. How much of it has been you and how much of it has been your partners or even luck? I think it’s always a team effort. I’ve been fortunate to play with good partners every week, Ryan Harrison, Sam Groth twice, Matt Reid and Mackenzie McDonald. It’s been a really fun year in doubles. I still haven’t found my stride yet in singles, but I look to keep playing more doubles next year and hopefully keep getting my [Emirates ATP Doubles] ranking up because I don’t have a point coming off until Savannah. With scoring in doubles, things can get away from you with a bad give minutes. What does that say...
ATP World Tour Uncovered presented by Peugeot goes behind the scenes at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro were eager to return. Photo: Getty Images.