Gael Monfils a win away from ATP final Return

Gael Monfils a win away from ATP final Return

Gael Monfils is 1 win away from returning to the Nitto ATP Final. Monfils rallied to beat Radu Albot 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 and reach the Rolex Paris Masters quarter finals. Monfils hit 12 aces and soaked up the Paris crowd support during the memorable comeback that saw him save 7 of 9 (78%) break points. Now Gael needs to beat NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov to secure a 2nd trip to the season finale, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London. Gael made his debut at the season ending event in 2016.

Only 1 spot for the 8-man field remains as defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany became the 7th player to qualify.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, is also through to the quarter finals, marking the 1st time at least 2 Frenchmen have reached the Paris quarter-finals since 2012, when three Frenchmen Tsonga, Michael Llodra and Gilles Simon did. Llodra and Simon went on to reach the semi finals.

Shapovalov is playing his best tennis just in time for next week Next Gen ATP Finals, which starts Tuesday at the Allianz Cloud in Milan. The Canadian earned his 3rd Top 10 win and 2 of 2019, fighting past Zverev 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.