Stan Wawrinka against Gaël Monfils in the 2nd round of Wimbledon - that promises to be a spectacle. When the two good friends meet, there are only winners. Even the loser will be happy.
Stan Wawrinka and Gaël Monfils belong to the rare breed of tennis professionals who meet more often in private than on the tournament courts of this world. They have only officially played each other six times and won three times each. However, they have trained or done other things together far more often. "He's practically my neighbor," says the 39-year-old from Vaud. "And one of my best friends on the tennis circuit."
Monfils doesn't disagree, of course. It's always "cool" to play against Wawrinka. He is his buddy, but even more than that. "He has helped me with a lot of things, including in my personal life," enthused the Frenchman, who is one and a half years younger, after his convincing four-set victory over Adrian Mannarino. No matter what happens, they will have fun on the court. "And laugh together."
Not grass specialists
This is the first time the two have met on grass, so it is difficult to make a prediction. Monfils has been much more successful so far this year and has already fought his way back up to 33rd place in the ATP rankings after temporarily falling out of the top 100. Although grass is his weakest surface and he has only reached one round of 16 in twelve attempts at Wimbledon, he did at least reach the semi-finals in Mallorca last week. Wawrinka has reached the quarter-finals twice at Wimbledon, even if it was nine and ten years ago respectively.
Wawrinka won his opening match against England's Charles Broom in three sets, but also showed a few weaknesses against the world number 248. He will probably have to improve.
No surprises
With Gaël Monfils, you never really know what to expect anyway. The Parisian, who is married to top Ukrainian player Yelina Svitolina and became the father of a daughter almost two years ago, is capable of almost anything on a tennis court, both good and bad. But he won't be able to surprise anyone: Stan Wawrinka.
"We know each other inside out," emphasizes the three-time Grand Slam champion. "We usually have a great battle, but there won't be any surprises. The decisive factor will be who plays better, who can seize the initiative and break the other down." Even if the two have not pulled out the same big strings at Wimbledon as they have at other major tournaments, their popularity with the fans guarantees them an appearance on the third largest court on Wednesday (around 5.00 p.m.).
One thing is clear to Wawrinka anyway: "The loser will be happy for the winner." This is also a rare occurrence on the fiercely competitive tennis tour.
SDA