The clock crept toward midnight as another match point slipped from Gael Monfils’ grip. On a night in which the acrobatic Frenchman squandered 17 break points and repeatedly hurled his body around the court as if trying to crash a rugby scrum, Monfils bent often, but refused to break when it mattered most.
In a wildly entertaining and uneven match, Monfils subdued a stubborn Benjamin Becker, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, to advance to the Doha quarterfinals. The pair combined for 100 winners (53 from Becker, 47 from Monfils) and 83 unforced errors and saved some of their cleanest tennis for the final set.
The first set produced some dramatic shifts. Becker fought off six set points before driving a backhand winner down the line to cap a 10-minute 10th game and hold for 5-5. Serving at 5-6, the muscular German saved two more set points. On his ninth set point, Monfils raced to his right and lofted an exquisite forehand lob winner down the line to seize the 53-minute opening set.
Becker, who ended Andre Agassi’s career at the 2006 U.S. Open, serves bigger than his 5’10” frame suggests. He lived and died with his forehand tonight. Twenty of Becker’s 27 errors came off the forehand wing in the first set, as Monfils' electrifying court coverage often coaxed his opponent into playing too close to the lines.
Injury-induced inactivity has caused Becker's ranking to plummet to No. 304, but the former NCAA champion from Baylor knocked off a swinging backhand volley to break for a 5-4 second-set lead. A frenetic set point saw Monfils make a desperate dash for the ball and slide into a full split, eventually ending up on the seat of his shorts as his Prince raquet flew out of his hands, while Becker took the second set.
Monfils can careen from exasperating to exhilarating in the space of a single rally. He sometimes followed head-scratching shot selection with jaw-dropping shot making. His penchant for sliding into skidding retrievals proved painful too. In the eighth game of the second set, Monfils tumbled to the court clutching his knee, but climbed off the court and continued to play.
In the final set, Becker's backhand found the sideline as he saved a match point to hold for 5-5. Two games later, Becker bent low for a brilliant angled backhand drop volley that eluded the speedy Monfils as he saved a second match point.
Ultimately, Monfils’ potent first serve and his unwavering belief that no ball was beyond his expansive reach proved pivotal in this two hour, 27-minute adventure. When Becker netted a forehand on the third match point, a relieved Monfils screamed "Allez!" in advancing to a quarterfinal clash with fifth-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki. That could be another marathon match: Monfils beat Troicki, 3-6, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (5) in Montreal last summer in their lone prior meeting.
“I learned a lot from this match,” Monfils told Robbie Koenig afterward. “Conditions were a bit tough, cold and windy, and I think I showed a strong mind tonight so I’m very happy with this win.”
—Richard Pagliaro