Flamboyant Gael Monfils thrills the crowd at Indoor Stadium
Hip-hop dance moves, no-look drop shots, goalkeeper-like dives to retrieve lost causes and extravagant winners delivered with a pirouette mid-air.
These days, Frenchman Gael Monfils is regarded as the tennis entertainer on court, and he lived up to that billing by thrilling the crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday.
The 28-year-old was at his flamboyant best as his Micromax Indian Aces became the first team in the inaugural Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League to win all 30 games, after they despatched Musafir.com UAE Royals 30-11 to stay top of the four-team table.
Monfils first beat Malek Jaziri 6-1 before teaming up with Rohan Bopanna in the men's doubles to beat Nenad Zimonjic and Marin Cilic by the same score.
Speaking to The New Paper later, Monfils insisted that despite critics deriding him as nothing more than a showboater - his best Grand Slam performance was the French Open semi-final finish in 2008 - he will persist with his style of play.
"Because that's who I am," the world No. 18 deadpanned, before flashing a wide grin.
The son of a former football player from Guadeloupe and a nurse from Martinique, Monfils claimed his ability to dance and move was down to good genes and added: "I play tennis, soccer, basketball and dance hip-hop, so you know."
RAW TALENT
Monfils' former coach Roger Rasheed once said: "I saw a player with legitimate weapons and a lot of raw talent who hadn't blossomed yet.
"I drew a line in the sand and said: 'If you want to be ranked 40 or 50, you can be creative and artistic. But if you want success at the Grand Slam level, there's a price.
"'Look, you've got 4,000 tricks and I'm taking away 3,000. Have your flair, but if you're too loose, your game will break down. People remember players who win, not how many times the crowd goes 'Wow!'"
But Monfils, who reached his highest ranking of seventh in 2011, hit back when he said last night: "I practise hard, and I work hard to win. I don't entertain to lose.
"I don't entertain for entertainment's sake. It's up to people to decide how they want to view me, only results talk."
Recent results back Monfils' ambition to finally make a Grand Slam breakthrough next year.
He defeated world No. 2 Roger Federer in the Davis Cup Final last month, although France did eventually fall to Switzerland.
"I feel good, I won a couple of matches to show I can make it. (Stanislas) Wawrinka and (Marin) Cilic won their first Majors this year, and I hope I can also be part of that."
Monfils received support from former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, another intriguing (split) personality famous for his "Good Goran, Bad Goran, Emergency Goran" style of play.
The 43-year-old Croat said: "Monfils is a great character and I think he is the best athlete in the world.
"With his ability, I don't know how is not in the top five. I hope he gets into the top 10, because we need personalities like him up there."
"This is in addition to my own training. It's different to how I was training in the past year but I think it's good to try. The format is not too tiring, it moves quick and keeps us in competition-mode and you are more focused, in the groove. It's a good thing to have my coach Goran (Ivanisevic) in the same team too, so we can prepare and discuss things such as schedule, so it's positive going into the new season."
- 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, on playing in the inaugural Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League during what is traditionally a player's off-season
Micromax Indian Aces 30 Musafir.com UAE Royals 11
Women's singles: Ana Ivanovic beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-2
Mixed doubles: Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza beat Nenad Zimonjic/Kristina Mladenovic 6-5
Men's singles: Gael Monfils beat Malek Jaziri 6-1
Men's legends singles: Fabrice Santoro beat Nenad Zimonjic 6-2
Men's doubles: Rohan Bopanna/Gael Monfils beat Nenad Zimonjic/Marin Cilic 6-1
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