US Open 2014: Stage conquered, Gael Monfils exits Flushing Meadows

‘All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts…’

- From William Shakespeare’s ‘All the World’s A Stage’

Let alone a lifetime, Gael Monfils plays many parts during the course of just a single tennis match. It’s something that has become a sort of a calling card for the Frenchman, for a match that he’s involved in is almost always heavily infused with a wide range of emotions, moods and tantrums replete with endless monologues and extravagant theatricality.

Gael Monfils embraces Roger Federer after their quarter-final match at the 2014 US Open

Packaged in with all of the elements above is also a game high on verve, athleticism and shot-making ability of the highest order. The bigger the stage, the more parts Monfils plays and Thursday night’s quarter-final at the 2014 US Open against Roger Federer was as big a stage as any.

The king meets the jester

Billed as the battle between the king and the court jester, Thursday’s clash between Federer and Monfils witnessed a clash of two contrasting extremes.

Federer – ‘the King’ – a 17-time Grand Slam champion with 80 singles titles to his name and chasing a special 18th Slam in the twilight years of his career. Monfils – the court jester – with no Slam titles to his name yet, the semis being the farthest he has gotten at a major and five titles overall; a man whose talent is never in doubt, but his mental fortitude and balance very much in question through the course of a match. A clash of Federer’s precision shot-making and Monfils’s raw, explosive game.

In a game that ebbed and flowed, had countless heart-in-the-mouth moments, points of brilliance from either player and also bouts of frustration, the king and jester combined to put together one of the most captivating matches of this year’s tournament. And for most of the match, things did not look good for the king.

Monfils sends Federer packing, almost

“When I was down two match points, that’s when I wasn’t feeling so great anymore,” said Federer. “I thought: ‘This is it. This is the last point, man. Just go down fighting, don’t miss an easy shot and let him have it.’

“But I stayed in the match and somehow turned it around.”

Those were Federer’s words at the end of the contest, one in which he managed to extricate himself from a two sets to love down hole, including saving two match points in an utterly tense fourth set, to overcome Monfils and progress to his ninth US Open semi-final. The fifth set was a romp for the Swiss; it had been anything but the rest of the way.

Monfils was the dominant player for much of the first four sets

In each of the pair’s previous nine meetings, the person winning the first set had gone on to win the match. For close to four sets it looked like meeting number 10 was heading that same way, in the direction of the enigmatic Frenchman.

Monfils was coming into the match having not lost a set in the previous four rounds and was one of the more impressive outliers to have made their way into the last eight. And he began his duel against Federer in similarly fine fettle, capturing the first break of the match to pocket the first set after a testy early period where he had to stave off break points.

It only got better from then on for the Frenchman as he grew stronger with every passing game as Federer grew ever more frustrated with himself and the way the game was progressing, clearly rattled by the level at which his opponent was playing and seemingly his failure at lifting his game to match those levels. Monfils broke Federer in every set except the decider which gives you an indication of how deep in the water the 5-time champion was.

Monfils masterclass

So what happened in the end? What caused Monfils to tail off so spectacularly once he failed to convert on his match points? Was there a switch flipped somewhere? I believe there was, inside of Monfils, once it dawned upon him that the crowd was no longer with him.

‘Gael’, as the crowd hollered all night, is a showman. Of all the parts that Monfils can exhibit on a given day, one which is almost unfailing in its appearance is that of the entertainer. Oh, he wants to win, yes, but he wants to do it while entertaining all and sundry. He is an artist who loves to receive the applause and adulation from those in attendance as payment for his act.

Monfils was pulling off all sorts of shots against Federer

He loves a crowd, he loves a febrile atmosphere. He likes to stoke the emotions, send them into a frenzy with breath-taking play and bring them to chant his name in glorious celebration. He feeds off of them when he needs motivation and a little geeing up. He also isn’t afraid to tell them straight up if they get on his back unnecessarily. He has endless conversations from almost the very first point of the match with himself, with the members in his box, with the chair umpire, with the ball kids, with the line judges and with members of the crowd. And true to script, the showman did not disappoint.

Monfils lit up the Arthur Ashe Stadium as he got to every Federer shot, pacing around the court like a swift gazelle, giving his opponent no change. He also pulled off some fantastic shots of his own that left Federer looking at an earlier than anticipated exit from Flushing Meadows.

The court a Coliseum for Monfils

Through all of his efforts in the first two sets, the crowd inside Arthur Ashe was totally with him. They had loved this guy through the tournament and continued that generous showing of love against one of the big boys of the sport. They wanted their hero, Federer, to be pushed to his limits and left in a spot of bother, and Monfils revelled in this atmosphere as he pulled two sets clear.

The Federer charge came, as expected, in the third set, and though he broke back soon after losing serve for the very first time in the match, Federer broke again to take the third. The crowd was still with him though, for they really seemed to be excited to see how far Monfils could go, to see if he could do the unthinkable and actually claim the win.

However, as they sensed Federer nearing ever closer to the exit door, the polarity inside the stadium was gradually reversed. Things reached fever pitch in the 10th game of the fourth as Federer stood confronted by two match points to hand Monfils a famous victory.

Much like it happened in the Wimbledon final a few months ago against Novak Djokovic, the crowd instantly decided to put all their efforts behind one of the all-time favourites, deciding that they’d seen enough from the challenger. As Federer jumped in delight after holding serve in that game, so did the entire stadium, an undeniable electricity in the air. Alone was Monfils in the corner, left to mull over those missed chances all by himself, having been cast aside so suddenly.

Monfils reacts to the crowd rooting for Federer

With the support from the crowd suddenly watered down, love like earlier not forthcoming, Monfils retreated into becoming a silent spectator as he lost the fourth and started the fifth like he was in a hurry to get home. Federer duly motored away to claim the win and end his opponent’s challenge.

“It was unbelievable,” Federer said of the crowd support. “It think it was awesome for both guys. Gael played such incredible tennis that the crowd has to get into it.”

In the previous round against Grigor Dimitrov, as Monfils battled personal demons, loss of form and fatigue, the crowd stood behind him and cheered him on for he was the crowd favourite over the higher ranked Bulgarian. The reassuring support firmly behind him, he proceeded to take the match in straight sets against his slightly inexperienced opponent.

One moment in particular from that match will stand out; when Monfils stepped up to serve on set point in the second set tiebreak after having saved one earlier, the crowd rose in unison, applause ringing loud; Monfils looked around, took it all in, like Russell Crowe in ‘Gladiator’, and delivered a crushing serve to win it. The outpouring of emotion that followed that from both Monfils and the loving crowd was a sight to behold.

Winning matches isn’t everything

Unfortunately for him, Thursday night he was playing quite a different player, one vastly more experienced and vastly more popular. The crowd simply refused to give up on Federer. He looked deflated after that loss and quietly slipped away and headed toward the exit having put on quite the show for the assembled gathering.

Monfils lived up to his billing of being the ultimate showman

Monfils at this US Open displayed a seriousness and focus not associated with him previously. If that doesn’t tell you that he came to win, nothing does. But having said that, he is very much his own man and wants to win his way, the showman extraordinaire way.

Sometimes in this ultra-competitive world of modern sport, I believe we tend to focus too much on winning and tend to be hard on players like Monfils saying “this is why he will never win a Grand Slam”, ignoring other motivations. Like in Gael’s case, he lives to entertain, he wants to put on a good show. If he can snatch a Slam while doing that, so be it, else he’d still be satisfied that he thrilled and dazzled while drawing rapturous ovation from those watching. And he certainly captured the stage this fortnight in New York, winning hearts.

Merci beaucoup!