Player With Caribbean Roots Makes Quarter Final Of U.S. Open
September 7, 2010
CaribWorldNews, FLUSHING, NY, Tues. Sept. 7, 2010: A hard fought match on September 6th, has landed Gaël Monfils, whose roots extend to the French Caribbean, in the quarter-finals of the 2010 U.S. Open.
Monfils, the 17th seed, beat fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet at the Armstrong Stadium 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 in a dogged match Monday to advance.
`I feel comfortable here. Maybe I will win one day here,` he commented after as he walked around with his signature sleeveless shirt and plaid Bermuda shorts.
He moves on to a tough match ahead against the No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who beat No. 19 Mardy Fish, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 in their fourth-round match to set up a quarterfinal face-off.
Monfils, 24, parents are both from the French Caribbean though he was born in Paris, France. His father, Rufin, a former football player employed as an agent for France Telecom, comes from the island of Guadeloupe while his mother, Sylvette, comes from the island of Martinique and is a nurse.
The 6 ft. 4 inch Monfils considers Arthur Ashe to be his favorite player. He was coached by countryman and former ATP pro Thierry Champion (since September 2004) but they parted company in September 2006. Nevertheless, Monfils`s fitness trainer is still Rémi Barbarin. Monfils announced a partnership with a new coach, Tarik Benhabiles, in May 2007. However, for the 2008 season, Monfils has hired Roger Rasheed as his coach.
He has tattoos on both wrists, and giant wing tattoos on the lower half of his back. He is fond of listening to music, particularly R&B and has said if he did not play tennis, he would play basketball. He is a huge fan of NBA team Denver Nuggets and his favorite basketball player is Carmelo Anthony. Monfils is also a fan of football and his two favorite football clubs are Arsenal F.C. and Paris-Saint Germain. He lives in Nyon, Switzerland.
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