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. 

Lack of rhythm

“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.