New York (AFP)
Gael Monfils, 13th in the world and last Frenchman in the US Open, qualified for the quarter-finals Monday by easily eliminating Spaniard Pablo Andujar (70th), 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in 1h26.
"I was very good, I was very good physically, I hit hard, I think tonight was a good show," he told the Louis-Armstrong court audience. returned an ovation.
In the next round, the 33-year-old Frenchman will face Italian Matteo Berrettini (25th) for a place in half.
Monfils, winner of the tournament in Rotterdam this year, will play the 9th Grand Slam quarter-final of his career, the 4th at Flushing Meadows. In 2016, he had reached the last four. Last year, however, he was eliminated in the second round.
The Frenchman has had a rough season because his good performances have been clouded by flat rates and abandoned on injury.
Thus, he dropped out before his quarter-final at the Masters 1000 Indian Wells because of his left ankle. Then he dropped out before his semifinal at the Masters 1000 Montreal, again because of a painful ankle.
His ankle still made him give up in the first round at Wimbledon and made him forfeit before the Miami, Monte Carlo and Washington tournaments.
© 2019 AFP