Cincinnati Masters: Gael Monfils accused of throwing his match away against Jerzy Janowicz
Gael Monfils has been accused of not trying his best in his straight sets loss against Jerzy Janowicz in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Former tennis player Tracy Austin, commentating for the Tennis Channel felt that Monfils was playing fast and loose with no regard to the scoreboard.
To not give 100 per cent and be so blatant about it, I think it’s disrespectful,” Tracy told news.com.au.
“It looked like exhibition tennis. We’ve seen that way too many times with him. With Gael it’s so difficult to watch because you know his upside ceiling could be so big but he just goes away and doesn’t even try.”
Monfils, who reached the quarterfinals at the US Open last year is known for his theatrics on the court. The World No. 16 hasn’t had a great start to the American hard court season losing in the second round at Montreal to Gilles Muller before Monday’s loss against Janowicz.
Ball boys failed to keep up with the serving speed of Monfils between points. The Frenchman also turned his back on Janowicz during a rally before losing the point.
Gilles Simon also made a first round exit after losing to Ivo Karlovic on Monday.
Here are the highlights of the match: