2 things that stood out in Gael Monfils' 1R win over Cameron Norrie at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati
Gael Monfils of France beat 13th seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 3-6 6-4 6-3 in the first round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday, August 15. The match lasted just over two hours, as the 36-year-old Frenchman scampered towards victory in the end.
Monfils will play Alex de Minaur of Australia, who reached the final of the Canadian Open last week, in the second round on Wednesday. De Minaur will be the slight favorite going into the match, but one cannot rule out the chance of another upset from the Frenchman.
On that note, here's a look at two things that stood out in the match:
#1 Monfils suffered an injury in the first set
Monfils suffered a leg injury in the first set that significantly hampered his movement initially. He had to be treated for the same but recovered quite well as the match progressed. Moreover, the left-handed Norrie’s crosscourt forehand was typically directed at Monfils’ backhand, which caused him some problems.
Although going 2-0 down early, Norrie broke the Frenchman in the fourth and eighth games to take a 5-3 lead and then held his serve to win the first set.
#2 Monfils moved well from the second set onwards
Monfils bounced back really well in the second set to take his opponent by surprise. He started moving really well, showing hardly any sign of the injury that plagued him in the first set. Norrie started playing drop shots quite often, but Monfils moved forward really quickly to retrieve most of the balls.
The veteran Frenchman also started going around his backhand more often to play inside-out and inside-in forehands to put some pressure on the Brit. As a result, Monfils managed to break Norrie four times in the last two sets. Those breaks of serve were enough to keep the Frenchman ahead in the match and he managed to eke out a victory.
Norrie had a better first-serve percentage in the match but Monfils managed to win 58% of the points on his second serve, while the Brit could win only 45%. Norrie also faced 11 break points in the match, which showcased his poor serving on the night.
Monfils, if fully fit and injury-free, should be able to make a match of it against De Minaur in the second round as well.