Gael Monfils: 3 Things to Learn

       Gael Monfils is an electric factory when he steps onto a tennis court; and on the terre battue of Roland Garros? Forget about it. He can hit shots that the rest of us couldn’t even imagine attempting. But Gael does not make a living from making incredible shots, he makes a living from hitting the normal shots really well. Gael does three things extremely well, and we can all incorporate more of it into our own gamesl.

1. Gael hits in the direction his body is moving. He knows that his best chance of hitting a ball that cannot be attacked is to hit with all his body weight behind the shot. So that’s what dictates his shot selection: which way am I moving, and where is the ball coming from? This makes shot selection very simple on “rally balls”. When you’re just locked in a baseline rally, and not trying to create anything great, just hit your shot in the direction your body is already moving. The weight of shot you hit will make your ball unattackable, and keep you balanced and ready to move to your opponent’s reply.
   
2. Quickly cut your losses when in trouble. Gael can be too passive at times, but what we can learn from him is to recognize whether or not the ball our opponent hits us is attackable or not. If it’s not attackable, hit your shot back to your opponent’s backhand. Monfils is hitting 86% of his shots to Goffin’s backhand so far. It seems simple, and obvious, but not trying to create magic when there’s none available is one of Gael’s strengths, and one of most players’ achilles heels.  What we can learn from Gael though, is that the game should be played with absolute control.
   
3. Do not sacrifice control. Gael hits amazing shots when he has to, but he does not often choose to attempt them by free will. He picks shots he knows he can make, but he absolutely hammers them. He has hit multiple cross court backhand winners today by just blitzing Goffin with pure speed of shot. What does this mean for us? It means we should look to gain advantage in rallies by adding spin and speed to shots we know we can make, rather than attempting shots that take us out of our control zone.
   

    Monfils is locked at a set all right now against Belgium’s best player, David Goffin, in the third round of the French Open and it is an absolute clinic on how to play controlled baseline tennis. Both guys can do whatever they want with the ball, but they choose to play with huge margins, and an emphasis on control. If the best players in the world choose control and accuracy over highlight reel shots, shouldn’t we?

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