Gael Monfils

Full name Gael Sebastien Monfils...Nicknamed "Lamonf"...His father, Rufin, a former soccer player, comes from island of Guadeloupe...He is an agent for France Telecom...His mother, Sylvette, comes from island of Martinique and is a nurse...Also has one younger brother, Daryl...Considers Arthur Ashe to be his favorite player...Off court walks around with his iPod listening to music, in particular R&B...If he didn't play tennis he would play basketball...Fan of NBA team Detroit Pistons and favorite basketball player is Carmelo Anthony...

Finished as world's No. 1 junior in 2004 with titles at Australian Open (d. Ouanna), Roland Garros (d. Kuznetsov) and Wimbledon (d. Kasiri)...Did not dorp a set in Australia and lost only one set each in Paris and Wimbledon...In 2003, was runner-up at Orange Bowl (l. to Baghdatis) and USTA Winter International Championships (l. to Rieschick)...Best friends are countrymen and former juniors Josselin Ouana, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Paterne Mamata...Named ATP Newcomer of Year in 2005....Coached by Australian Roger Rasheed (since Toronto in July 2008).

2004 -- Improved ranking by over 700 positions in rankings...Made ATP debut as wild card in Metz and reached QF by (d. Malisse, Patience, l. to Gasquet)...Qualified into AMS Paris and reached 2nd RD (d. Enqvist, l. to No. 3 Hewitt)...Went 14-6 with one title in Futures and 3-5 in Challengers...In doubles, reached final at France #7 (w/Ouanna)...

2005 -- Climbed 200 spots in ATP Rankings to finish as No. 3 Frenchman (behind No. 16 Gasquet, No. 26 Grosjean)...Won Challenger titles in Benancon (d. C. Rochus) and Tunis (d. Santoro)...Reached 4th RD at ATP Masters Series Miami (l. to Hrbaty) and 3rd RD at Wimbledon (l. to Ancic)... Won first ATP title in Sopot (d. Mayer)... Finalist in Metz (d. Gasquet, Hrbaty, l. to Ljubicic) and Lyon (d. Gaudio, Grosjean, l. to Roddick)...

2006 -- Finished in Top 50 for second straight year despite on-and-off injuries throughout season...Retired with a back injury in QF at Queen's, missed European summer clay court circuit with a right foot injury, withdrew from Asian circuit with stress fracture in left foot and then sprained his right ankle in October in Madrid...Opened season with runner-up in Doha (l. to Federer) and in May, reached SF at ATP Masters Series Rome (d. Roddick, l. to Nadal)...

His best Grand Slam came with 4th RD finish at Roland Garros (d. Blake, l. to Djokovic)...Moved on to grass at Queen's and recorded third win over a Top 10 player in four tournaments, defeating No. 4 Ljubicic en route to QF...Retired against Blake with a back injury...Made 1st RD exit at Wimbledon and sat out next two months with a right foot injury...Returned in August at AMS Cincinnati, defeating Safin before losing to No. 10 Baghdatis...At US Open, lost to Moodie in 2nd RD...Then suffered a left stress fracture and missed a month before returning in mid-October in Madrid where he sprained his right ankle...Had a 3-5 record vs. Top 10 opponents...

2007 -- Finished in Top 50 and reached an ATP final for third straight year...Advanced to 3rd RD at Australian Open for first time (d. Bracciali, Baghdatis, l. to Gasquet)...In March, won title at Sunrise Challenger (d. Seppi) and two months later in Poertschach, defeated Querrey, Lee, No. 3 Roddick and Hewitt to reach fifth ATP final (l. to Monaco)...

In July, reached QF in Gstaad (l. to Mathieu) and SF in Washington (l. to Isner)...In September, advanced to SF at Bucharest (l. to Hanescu)...Went 3-2 vs. Top 10 opponents, including wins over No. 5 Davydenko in Gstaad and No. 7 Robredo in Stuttgart.

2008 -- The Frenchman finished in Top 20 for first time and won a personal-high 30 matches while reaching his first Grand Slam SF and sixth career ATP final...Missed first two months with a right knee injury and went 5-7 going into Roland Garros where he reached SF (d. No. 5 Ferrer, l. to Federer)...

On grass, reached SF in Nottingham (l. to Karlovic) but then withdrew from Wimbledon due to right shoulder injury...In August, advanced to QF at Beijing Olympics (l. to Djokovic) and followed with 4th RD at US Open (l. to Fish)...Beat Top 10 Nalbandian in both...Finished indoor circuit with a 10-4 mark, reaching SF in Bangkok (l. to Tsonga), runner-up in Vienna (l. to Petzschner), QF at AMS Madrid (d. No. 10 Gonzalez, No. 8 Roddick, l. to Murray) and 3rd RD at AMS Paris (l. to Nadal)...

Went 5-7 vs. Top 10 opponents and compiled records of 18-11 on hard, 9-5 on clay and 3-1 on grass...In lone Challenger outing in May in Marrakech, won title (d. Chardy)...Earned a career-high $889,581.

2009

The Frenchman captured his second career ATP World Tour title in Metz in late September (d. Kohlschreiber)...He was one of two players (Verdasco) to crack the Top 10 for the first time this year...He spent 14 weeks in Top 10...He opened season with a SF in Doha, defeating World No. 1 Nadal in QF before losing to Roddick in three sets...Followed with fourth round at Australan Open where he retired with a right wrist injury (after three sets) against countryman Gilles Simon...He broke into the Top 10 for first time on Feb. 23 and made Acapulco debut by reaching final (l. to Almagro), his sixth straight runner-up…In March in Indian Wells, lost opening round match (after a bye) to big-serving American John Isner in three sets…He did advance to the fourth round at Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, saving two match points in a three-set victory over Marat Safin before losing to Andy Roddick...After a first round exit in Monte-Carlo, did not play again until Paris due to left knee injury…Reached QF at Roland Garros where he beat No. 6 Andy Roddick before losing to eventual champion Roger Federer in straight sets…Slipped from No. 10 to No. 14 after last year's semi-final points dropped off....Injured his left wrist at Queen’s in London and was forced to withdraw from his 3rd Rd. match with Steve Darcis…The injury kept him sidelined throughout Wimbledon and he made his return in Montreal with a second-round loss to Juan Carlos Ferrero...Reached fourth round at US Open (l. to Nadal).