Dubai: World No.10 Gael Monfils was all praise for his opponent Mohammad Safwat after the lower-ranked Egyptian gave him a tough time in their opening round match at the Dubai Tennis Championships late on Monday.
Handed out a wild card this week, the World No.199 Safwat matched his illustrious French opponent but ultimately went down in straight sets 4-6, 3-6. Monfils will now await the winner of the match between Daniel Evans and Dustin Brown that was scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
But the 30-year-old Monfils was taken aback with the fight put up by Safwat before an appreciative crowd on Monday. “You always expect a tough match, but I wasn’t expecting that he had so much power with his forehand. His forehand was super fast and deep,” Monfils told media.
“He wasn’t missing that much and I wasn’t really expecting that he be tough in a long-term match. I think it was great, actually,” he added.
Backed by a well-filled centre court, the 26-year-old from Mansoura, Egypt, gave it his all against a more esteemed opponent. But ultimately, he fell short. “The atmosphere was nice. I knew it was late and that many people have been staying, and I was very happy. I think they were happy, too, because Mohammad was playing very good tennis, fantastic tennis,” Monfils pointed out.
“I guess that’s what we like. For sure he’s pleased about his performance as he had a wildcard and nothing to lose, and he played a tough one,” he added.
This is the Frenchman’s second visit to Dubai following his debut here way back in 2008 when he lost in the opening round. “It was tough for me a little bit today. I haven’t played a single ball since arriving here. It’s been two days I haven’t played, so it was tough. I arrive, and this guy is shooting. So it was a bit tough for me to adapt myself also outdoors,” he added.
“I need to work on everything as I could do much better, but I think with the matches, it will come,” he hoped.
