Gael Monfils

Gael Monfils is a professional tennis player who was born in Paris, France in 1986. He is a former French number one and has been as high as number seven in the world rankings.

In February 2004 he was top of the junior world rankings. That year he won the first three Grand Slam events on the junior calendar, landing the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon titles. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't complete the full slam as he was beaten in the third round of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

2005 was a big year in his professional career as he rapidly moved inside the top 50. He was also able to win his first ATP title in the Orange Warsaw Open in Poland. He defeated Florian Mayer of Germany in the final in three sets. He also reached the finals of the Open de Moselle and Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, both of which were in his home country but he had to settle for the runners-up spot in those tournaments.

In 2006 Monfils reached the semi-finals of a Masters Series event in Rome for the first time. Victories over Tommy Haas, Robby Ginepri, Fabrice Santoro and Andy Roddick helped him to progress into the last four of the clay court competition. He was unable to go any further, though, as he was beaten by the eventual winner Rafael Nadal in the semi-final 6-2, 6-2.

The Frenchman's best run in a Grand Slam so far was in 2008 in his home slam where he got through to the last four men standing. He was unseeded going into the tournament and was placed in section three of the draw. The home star beat his compatriot Arnaud Clement in the first round. Wins over Luis Horna and Jurgen Melzer followed in his next two games. Monfils then had to see off the big serving Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. He was successful, winning 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the last eight, he put out number five seed David Ferrer in four sets, before losing to Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

France's former number one ranked player has since won two tournaments on home soil. He landed the Open de Moselle in 2009, while a year later he also lifted the Open Sud de France in Montpellier.

Monfils' fourth career title came in October 2011 when he beat Jarkko Nieminen in the final of the Stockholm Open.

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