Australian Open: will Gaël Monfils become invincible thanks to his new racket?

Jean-François Pérès, edited by Laura Laplaud 06:24, January 25, 2022

Will the beautiful story continue for Gaël Monfils at the Australian Open?

The French will play at the end of the morning, French time, his quarter-final against the Italian Matteo Berrettini.

Since the beginning of the fortnight, Monfils shines, very far from the player eliminated in the first round and in disarray last year.

Among the explanations, a change of equipment supplier and racquet that is causing a lot of talk in the world of tennis.

An amazing wedding

This is an amazing marriage between one of the stars of the circuit and a mainstream brand.

Usually, in tennis, players go for high-end products.

Last summer, Monfils, then in full questioning, did a blind test to choose his new racquet.

Result: Gaël Monfils chooses that of Artengo, a subsidiary of Decathlon, among six models present.

Not many people believed in it apart from one person, the director of the brand, Cyril Perrin.

"It was Gaël who must have been the most surprised," he says.

"We are a young brand, it was the first time we did that. It's a great story and we are very proud of its journey in Australia."

>> Find the morning of the day in replay and podcast here

A racket model three times cheaper

With his new magic wand, Monfils the enchanter indeed finds his best level.

Polo, shorts, socks, everything is adorned with the new logo, well almost, only the shoes are still missing for a very simple reason: "Gaël wears a 49 and our range stops at 48!", continues the director of Artengo.

"We are developing a special model so that he feels good on the court."

Gaël Monfils' racquet costs around 100 euros, two to three times less than a classic high-level model.

The French brand therefore hopes to break sales records before the Roland-Garros tournament scheduled for next May.