10 February,2021 06:04 AM IST | Melbourne | AFP
France`s Gael Monfils after a point against Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori during Round 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday. Pic/AFP
A tearful Gael Monfils said he was struggling to get out of a nightmare loss of form after his first-round exit at the Australian Open. The French crowd-pleaser said he had zero confidence following his 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6 defeat to Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori on Monday. "I'm playing badly. I can't serve, I can't play the forehand, I'm making mistakes, I'm six metres behind [the line], I'm missing by miles. Why? I don't know," Monfils said.
"I'm trying to find the right tempo, the right rhythm, but I can't find my game. So it's complicated. Because I can't do what I want, I can't find my game." The World No. 11 hasn't won a match in nearly a year, despite a strong start to the COVID-hit 2020 season when he won two titles. "I'm coming with zero, zero confidence and I feel like I'm being judged all the time," Monfils said.
"The worst thing in all of this is that I'm trying really hard and I'm not getting anywhere. I'm training hard and it's not going away," he added. "I'd really like to get out of this and tell you that the nightmare is over, but I'm right in the middle of it." Monfils then welled up as he described how his mother was trying to help him snap out of his funk. "She'll tell me, âYou have to keep training, and it will come back'," he said, holding back tears.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal said his back is still not great despite opening his campaign for a record 21st Grand Slam title with a routine straight-sets win. The World No. 2 pulled out of the ATP Cup last week with the niggle and said ahead of the Australian Open that he was suffering.
He motored through his first-round clash against valiant Serb Laslo Djere with little drama, racing to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, victory under blue skies on Rod Laver Arena, but admitted he was still struggling. "My back is not perfect, as I said a couple of days ago," said the Spaniard, whose only appearance this year had been an exhibition against Dominic Thiem in Adelaide 12 days ago, where he first experienced stiffness in his back.
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