Gael Monfils...

[El Dude]

...is good at tennis. Man, why hasn't this guy been more consistent? I know, he's a clown - but seriously, when he's on he's at least a second tier player. He really could be the best player on tour never to have won a big tournament (Slam, Masters, WTF).

Here's a list of active players who have won a big tournament:
Federer
Hewitt
Nadal
Djokovic
Murray
Berdych
Tsonga
Ferrer
Wawrinka
Del Potro
Cilic
Robredo
Haas

Notable players who haven't won a big tournament (yet):
Monfils
Raonic
Nishikori
Dimitrov
Verdasco
Simon
Isner
Lopez
Bautista Agut
Anderson
Karlovic
Gasquet
Monaco
Fognini
Gulbis
etc

What do you think? Any chance Gael can have a late career surge like Wawrinka? He's 28, turns 29 in September. For comparison's sake, Stan turned 28 in early 2013, the year he broke through to a higher level.

 

[Federberg]

I posed this question in a thread I opened a couple of years ago. I completely agree. This guy has serious talent. It's just the space between the ears that holds him back. In terms of athleticism I don't think there's anyone out there with his speed, although he lags behind the top 4 in terms of endurance. In terms of power, when he's in the mood, no one.. and I mean no one hits a bigger ball. I've seen him hit forehands that are 100+ miles per hour without breaking a sweat. For some weird reason though he tends to prefer hitting puff rally balls. In addition he's actually decent at the net if he accidentally finds his way there. The number of times when he has the opportunity to do just that and he backs off behind the baseline again :nono

I swear I get neck ache the number of times I shake my head in frustration watching him. It's so sad because he has pedigree. He was a far better junior than Andy, Nole and Delpo in junior days. But the sad truth is that juniors tennis is more about waiting out the opposition while at this level you have to go for winners. I really really hope he figures it all out, because it would be something special to see a nice talented guy like this win a big one one day

 

[herios]

There is another problem beside his head, which prevented him to have a better career. He is one of those who is more injured than the average top tennis player. It may be due to his style, but he was having too many health problems overall.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The #1 reason is his attitude. He has openly and clearly said that "at the end of the day,
he plays tennis fundamentally for fun". A professional player cannot have that attitude. It is your
business. I am not saying that professional players should not enjoy their game. Actually,
the connotation that Monfils put to his statement is that he really does not care about losing.
That attitude is the fundamental reason for his problems.

Other reasons (already mentioned by some above) 1. overindulgence in showmanship
2. injuries 3. poor shot selection

 

[Haelfix]

See James Blake. Injuries and lack of tennis iq are a terrible combination.

It doesn't matter if you have all the right shots if you can't chain them together properly.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Add poor scheduling as another issue.

He played in MC and then in Bucharest. He next plays in Munich. Then he plays in Madrid
and then in Rome. i.e., five continuous weeks of clay tourneys that he plays in all after
he almost pulled out of MC due to injuries.

Does he seriously think he would have anything in tank by the time he arrives at the
hallowed grounds of RG.

 

[Front242]

^ Dense.

 

[herios]

Add poor scheduling as another issue.

He played in MC and then in Bucharest. He next plays in Munich. Then he plays in Madrid
and then in Rome. i.e., five continuous weeks of clay tourneys that he plays in all after
he almost pulled out of MC due to injuries.

Does he seriously think he would have anything in tank by the time he arrives at the
hallowed grounds of RG.

Pulled out from Munich

 

[Kieran]

It's too easy to criticise Monfils. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Literally, the bloke has earned the disaffection of tennis fans everywhere. He could only be liked by disinterested armchair sports fans who moan that tennis has no characters left in it and he's a so-called character. He pulls trick shots at the exact time when he should be focussed. It's a sign of both incredible arrogance and puny weakness. He's one of these French guys I can't stand. Henri Leconte was another. It's not funny, Henri, it's just not funny. That worn-out gag of pulling your shorts up over your man-boobs and pretending you're a clown.

You are a clown but you're not funny. You're stale, square and desperate. That's Monfils fate too. And I don't like Yannick Noah either. It's not that they're French, that's just coincidence plus them humourless angry dudes pretending they have "Gallic flair", whatever that is after they've been in a war. I like Tsonga, sometimes, and I like the idea of Gilles Simon, but he's hard to watch. So it's not cos anyone is French...