#3 Gael Monfils
The Frenchman has been in pretty good form this year. Having begun the year ranked 23rd, Monfils is currently 8th in the ATP rankings. Following the exit of the two highest ranked players in his Australian Open draw section (Rafael Nadal and Kevin Anderson), Monfils cashed on that opportunity to reach his first Australian Open quarter-final where he was beaten by Milos Raonic.
Monfils’ good form continued as he reached the final of the Rotterdam Open, only to lose to Slovak Martin Klizan. This was followed by quarter-final appearances in two Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. Monfils then reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal.
After catching a viral infection at the Mutua Madrid Open, Monfils pulled out of Roland Garros. He had a poor outing at the Wimbledon where he lost in the opening round.
Monfils then reached the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup where he was beaten by eventual winner Novak Djokovic and reached the quarter-finals at the Rio Olympics where he was beaten by eventual bronze medalist Kei Nishikori. This was followed by his first Masters 500 title at the Citi Open.
Monfils reached his second Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open where he hadn’t dropped a single set before his semi-final defeat to eventual runner-up Novak Djokovic. His US Open performances took him up to 8th in the ATP rankings and given Federer’s inability to participate in any further tournaments this year, Monfils’ ranking will be expected to go higher.
Based on his performances in 2016, Monfils in ranked 6th and will be hoping to reach his first ever World Tour Finals in London.
