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Gael Monfils reveals what he kept telling himself before epic RG comeback win

By TieBreakNewsPosted on
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Gael Monfils revealed he was telling himself he was going to “recover and f— him up” before creating an absolutely stunning French Open comeback win over Sebastian Baez.

On Tuesday night in Paris, home favorite Monfils edged out Baez in the French Open first round 3-6 6-3 7-5 1-6 7-5.

After easily losing the first set, Monfils also made a very slow start to the fifth set as Baez had a 4-0 lead and a break point to go up by three breaks.

Then Monfils’ improbable comeback started.

In the fifth set – Monfils recovered from two breaks down – Baez broke Monfils again in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and earn a chance to serve out for the match – the Frenchman then responded by back-to-back breaks in the 10th and 12th games to complete a big comeback win.

“I released the 4th because I was tired. I felt I just needed 10 minutes of madness. I finally needed 25. I succeeded in thinking ‘I will recover and f— him (up) in the 5th,” Monfils said, via Tennis Majors.

Monfils clinches his first main-level win as a father

Monfils, 36, became a father last October when he and his wife Elina Svitolina welcomed their first child, a baby girl Skai.

“You forget that’s the first round round. You just think: ‘I’ve lived a crazy thing, I won a match I knew it would hard’. I had played Baez in a training session last week, I found he was a monster. It’s one of the greatest moments of sport I lived,” Monfils said.

Monfils has been on the Tour for two decades but this French Open first-round win is one of the most memorable wins of his career.

“Definitely this match is in my Top 2. I had more or less the same cuevas Cuevas on the Lenglen. But I’m older, there’s another flavor. So Top 2, Top 1,” Monfils added.