Last week in Doha, Gael Monfils defeated Ugo Humbert with ease; but, today at the 2024 Dubai Championships, it was the fellow Frenchman’s comeback day as he prevailed in three sets.
Gael Monfils had a pretty good week of tennis last week in Doha, and he easily defeated Humbert. Despite being far from his peak, the veteran is showing that he can hang with some of the world’s finest players.
Although at first glance this match appeared to be somewhat similar to their prior one, it was somewhat different. Monfils still gets too many balls and has a strong sense of anticipation even if he is no longer the youngest.
Because they want to play aggressively, players like Humbert can occasionally struggle with that. However, there is such a thing as being excessively aggressive. That was during the first set when Humbert made a lot of mistakes.
The veteran won 6-4 with that being plenty. Monfils had a rough start to the second set and had to leave the court in the second game because he wanted to throw up.
When he came back, he played the rest of the match, although not with the same intensity as in the previous set. Humbert won the set 6-3 because he was a little more accurate with his shots. Monfils had a lot of trouble with the second serve, and the pattern continued into the last set.
Simply said, Humbert was far more adept at reading the game, which was to be expected given their prior encounter. In the last set, he once again outplayed the veteran, though Monfils’s all-around play was a big aid.
Ultimately, Humbert successfully exacted retribution, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the next round of the Dubai Championships. Monfils put on a strong performance, but it was insufficient today.