Monfils: “If you’re a little bit off, it’s really tough whoever you are”
Five of the top 10 seeds in Miami have lost to players outside the top 50 this tournament
© Julien Nouet / Tennis Majors
French veteran Gael Monfils believes the ATP Tour is more competitive than ever, with that depth on display at the Miami Open this week.
Five of the 10 top seeds at the Masters 1000 event have been knocked out before the round of 16 this year, all by players outside of the top 50 in the ATP rankings.
When asked if he sees this as an opportunity for a deep run, Monfils explained that this is just evidence of the Tour’s increased depth.
“It just reinforces a little bit what we all saying that everybody is playing very good, everybody gets really competitive,” Monfils said after his three-set victory over Jaume Munar on Sunday.
“I think the Tour has become, outside even the top 250, super professional. The guy who’s playing Futures, they are very strong.
If you’re a little bit off, it’s really tough whoever you are.”
“A lot of players outside the top 100 who come to the top 100 this year are winning many matches, so it’s just reinforced that everybody is super competitive.”
That’s exactly what has happened over the last week in Miami, with second seed Carlos Alcaraz getting ambushed by world No 55 David Goffin and Indian Wells champion Jack Draper falling to No 54 Jakub Mensik.
Former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev was also beaten by a player outside the top 50 in Munar, while No 9 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas fell to No 115 Chun-Hsin Tseng and No 8 seed Andrey Rublev was beaten by No 51 Zizou Bergs.
