[Truc]

There is a very cute article in L'Equipe today about their friendship, I posted it in the Simon forum:
http://www.menstennisforums.com/show...&postcount=275

And Gilles also is talking about Gaël in "Le Parisien" today, it's a little bit the same, of course, but there are a few more stories:

« Gaël et moi, on s’inspire l’un de l’autre »

CHAQUE FOIS qu’ils se croisent dans les allées de Melbourne Park, Gilles Simon (24 ans) et Gaël Monfils (22 ans), opposés demain en 8e de finale, tombent dans les bras l’un de l’autre. Le no 7 mondial a accepté de lever le voile sur une amitié longue de dix ans.
La première rencontre.
« A l’Insep. Il avait ses lunettes énormes. Il est arrivé devant moi en me disant : Toi, viens, on va faire un match, je vais te taper ! Bon, vu qu’on avait un grand niveau d’écart, je l’ai évidemment battu. »
Le moment le plus fort.
« C’est difficile de choisir. Il y en a eu tellement à l’Insep. A Roland-Garros, le nombre de parties de jeux vidéo qu’on a faites… incalculable ! Mais le truc le plus important, c’est que pour deux mecs qui ont grandi ensemble pendant dix années, il n’y a jamais eu de problème entre nous. »
Le plus gros fou rire.
« Il y cinq ans, au casino, lors de tournois en Egypte.On jouait en général 5 € et, d’un coup, il a pété les plombs en mettant 100 € sur le rouge à la roulette. Et, là, il n’a pas arrêté de gagner. Les croupiers étaient dingues, lui se roulait par terre, moi j’étais fou ! C’était juste un truc pas possible. »
Les désaccords.
« Quasiment aucun. Parce que Gaël est quelqu’un de très simple, hypergénéreux, qui est toujours là quand vous avez besoin de lui. Alors, oui, il y a des moments où, même moi, il m’ennuie quand il part dans un délire et que je n’arrive pas à l’en sortir ! (Rires.) Mais franchement, il ne faut surtout pas qu’il change. »
Leur secret.
« On s’adore. Il n’y a jamais eu de jalousie par rapport aux résultats de l’un ou de l’autre. On essaie de s’aider mutuellement à arriver le plus haut possible. Gaël et moi, on s’inspire l’un de l’autre. C’est tout simplement incroyable de me dire que, si je vais moins bien, ce mec-là sera toujours là pour moi. Et finalement, si jamais je dois sortir du tournoi, je serai content que ce soit lui qui accède aux quarts plutôt que n’importe quel autre joueur. »
Propos recueillis par David Opoczynski

He can't pick a special moment between them, the most important thing is that there has never been any conflict between them. Gaël is very simple and generous. He can be very annoying too when he goes crazy about something! But really, he should stay the way he is.
A funny story between them? Five years ago, they were playing tournaments in Egypt and went to the casino. They used to play 5 € and all of a sudden, Gaël staked 100 € on red. And he kept playing and wouldn't lose. The croupiers went crazy, Gaël couldn't stop laughing, it was insane. (He seems to have a talent for gambling, there were articles about Domi being fascinated by Gaël winning loads of money in the casino of Barcelona too.)
There is no jealousy between them. They get inspired by each other. That's why he's glad that if he loses today, it will be against Gaël.

[Truc]

And there also is an article about Gaël in Le Parisien, nothing new for us, but I like the pics of him with Rasheed. It's about the fact that he prepared himself really well for Melbourne. He admits it's not always easy for him to work hard when his friends are around, so he decided to leave and spend one month 15.000 km away from them, alone with "Rodgeur" he got to know better during that month in Adelaide.

[Tess Gray]

Gael up first on Rod Laver Arena vs Gilles

EDIT: thanks for the articles. I love when Gilles is talking about how he shared a room with Gael in Peking "C'était un peu l'enfer"

[lisaplenske]

3 french mousquetaires on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow

Allez do your best guys!

[SelvenluvJo]

what's matter with Gael.....

[amdany]

Originally Posted by SelvenluvJo

what's matter with Gael.....

wrist injury, the match was awful especially in the 1st set,they both didn't play like they use to, in the 2nd set it was slightly better for Gael, and Gilles was better in the 3rd as well. It's at the end of the 3rd that Gael started to feel some pain on his wrist, he had a medical time out , he tried to play in the 4th set but apparently it was too painful for him to continue the match.
Gilles was soooo sorry for him, it was cute

[real_995]

hard luck

[Truc]

He says in the audio interview it was bothering him a little bit before the match already and he felt something on a serve during the match, the pain got worse and the physio said it was better to stop. He couldn't hit a FH anymore.
Tulasne (Gilles' coach) says Gaël obviously was hampered before the match already because he couldn't serve normally.

I'm still so gutted for him, this was so sad, the whole match being a nightmare (I was kind of expecting it for a match between Frenchies and because of their style of play, but it was horrible to see them embarrass themselves like that in front of everybody) and then the injury.

[Truc]

I just read the GM thread, I can't believe Dahill questioned on TV the injury and said that Gaël often retires in matches. What a prick.
It was so obvious he really had a problem with the wrist. Why would he retire against an opponent who was playing utter crap? Unbelievable.

[SelvenluvJo]

sorry ,but who is Dahill?

[Truc]

It's a typo, sorry, I meant Darren Cahill.
An Australian tennis coach and also commentator for some TV channel, apparently.

[SelvenluvJo]

haha,I don't know Darren Cahill neither.who cares he(or she).Hope Gael will recovery soon.

[Tess Gray]

Man what an awfull match Really awfull play from both sides... But even more awfull cause Gael had to retire. I hope it's a matter of letting the wrist rest and that it's not a real injury.

[Herdwick]

Just dropping in with for Gael. Didn't see the match but was pretty gutted when I saw the result. Would love to have seen a QF against Rafa. Only hope it's nothing serious.

'On s’adore. Il n’y a jamais eu de jalousie par rapport aux résultats de l’un ou de l’autre. On essaie de s’aider mutuellement à arriver le plus haut possible. Gaël et moi, on s’inspire l’un de l’autre. C’est tout simplement incroyable de me dire que, si je vais moins bien, ce mec-là sera toujours là pour moi. Et finalement, si jamais je dois sortir du tournoi, je serai content que ce soit lui qui accède aux quarts plutôt que n’importe quel autre joueur.'

Bless.

[Truc]

He withdrew from Johannesburg:
After seeing Melbourne's top doctors and having a MRI scan it was decided that he would not be fit to play in the Johannesburg event and announced his withdrawal from the ATP World Tours SA Tennis Open.
Monfils personally contacted Ian Smith to announce his withdrawal and apologised to Smith of the situation that was out of his control.
Monfils said he was "disappointed beyond words" that he was unable to travel to South Africa and participate in the tournament.
"Gael was obviously very disappointed when he called to confirm that he would not be playing in our tournament. Gael said he had been looking forward to coming to South Africa for the first time and assured me that he planned to play in our tournament in future years," said Smith.
http://www.supersport.co.za/tennis/a...20SA%20Open%20

I would love to know the result of that MRI scan, I'm worried, wrist injuries can be really bad.