Gael Monfils wins in Bangkok and appoints new adviser

Written by: Resendiz on 30th September 2011

Gael Monfils wins in Bangkok and appoints new adviser

Gael Monfils of France returns the ball to Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during their quarter final match at the ATP PTT Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 30 September 2011. Monfils defeated Nieminen. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT |

Frenchman Gael Monfils defeated last year’s finalist Jarkko Nieminen 7-5 7-6 (4) in the quarterfinals of the PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok on Friday.

The World No. 9 is without a title this year, his best result this year is reaching the final of Washington before the US Open. Monfils is still in the running to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London at the end of the year. It was a tough match today for Monfils, “I think I played better. I’m a bit sore after all the matches, but it’s good to be back on tour. Jarkko played very strong and it was tough to move him and impose my game.” Monfils will now face American Donald Young in the semi-final on Saturday.

Gael Monfils announced on Facebook today that he will start working with fellow country man Henri Leconte. The former professional player will work with Monfils before and during the important tournaments of the season and his role will be as an adviser.

American Donald Young blew Japanese qualifier Go Soeda off the court today with a 6-1 6-2 win. Young has had a great couple of months with a semi-final spot in Washington (l. Stepanek) and a fourth round at the US Open where he lost to Andy Murray. Young only lost eight points on his serve today but he said the score looked easier than the match was, “I had to play well and figure out his game a little bit. I’m happy to move on to the semis, definitely. I hope to go further. I like playing here and this year I’m coming with more confidence than I’ve had previously,” the American said.

The number three seed Gilles Simon of France required three sets to move into the Bangkok semi-final. Simon beat Matthias Bachinger 3-6 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 37 minutes. Simon has captured two ATP Tour titles this year. The Frenchman will face top seed Andy Murray in the semis on Saturday.

Murray overcame Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4 6-4. The British number one’s goal this year is to be in the top three. The world number four has already qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Murray is the 2005 Champion in Bangkok and it was his first ATP Tour final win.

Of today’s match Murray said, “I served well again. He started the match pretty well and once I served a couple break points in my second service game, the momentum was then with me for a lot of the match. I did not give him too many opportunities on my serve.”

The top seeds in the doubles event Oliver Marach of Austria and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan are through to the final after winning against Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-1. Marach and Qureshi will face the winner of Paul Hanley and Dick Norman and Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske in the final. Waske and Kohlmann caused an upset when they took out the number two seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel in the quarterfinals.

SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 1 OCTOBER, 2011  CENTRE COURT start 1:00 pm

D Young (USA) vs [2] G Monfils (FRA)

[1] A Murray (GBR) vs [3] G Simon (FRA)

[4] P Hanley (AUS) / D Norman (BEL) vs M Kohlmann (GER) / A Waske (GER)