[amdany]

practically the same draw than last week i.e possible encounter with Marat lol...but of course Marat won't make it lol

[Tess Gray]

Never underestimate Marat

Ljubo is in great form... Tough 3rd ahead, whether it's Ivan or Marat. But 2nd round first of course. In case he plays Hanescu, the H2H is 2-1 in favour of Gael. Last time they played was at The Beijing Olympics

http://www.atpworldtour.com/tennis/3...layer2=hanescu

[amdany]

Originally Posted by Tess Gray

Never underestimate Marat

Ljubo is in great form... Tough 3rd ahead, whether it's Ivan or Marat. But 2nd round first of course. In case he plays Hanescu, the H2H is 2-1 in favour of Gael. Last time they played was at The Beijing Olympics

http://www.atpworldtour.com/tennis/3...layer2=hanescu

I know ...but you forgot the bye guy, he's always tough to beat, just like Marat

[Truc]

Marat better take care of Ljubo, I've seen enough Ljubo in Indian Wells!
(Or Hernandez, it would be even better.)

Hanescu's qualifier is Russell, no giant this time, phew. I've seen enough Isner for the whole 2009 season too.

[Tess Gray]

Marat didn't have to take care of Ljubo, Oscar already did the job for him

[lisaplenske]

gael is so lucky with the draw.We cant say the same thing for his friend richard

well allez gael,take your chances there!and be agressive on the court for God sake!

[Truc]

Never been so happy about a win of Oscar Hernandez in my life!

They played once with Russell:
2006 U.S. Open Hard (O) G.MONFILS 6-2 3-6 7-5 7-6(4)

But I'm a bit worried because L'Equipe says today that he arrived in Miami yesterday only (I was starting to wonder why he isn't in any practice pics again, like in Indian Wells!) and that he went back to France after Indian Wells.
It doesn't make sense. He plays on Friday already, I hope he's fine.

[Tess Gray]

It didn't say why he went back to France? Maybe to get his knee checked? But he could have done that in Miami as well...

[soulage]

I think it's clear he loves the trip Marseille/Acapulco/Ostrava/IW/France/Miami in almost 6 weeks

[soulage]

2nd match on court1 tomorrow. In france it should start around 5.00 pm

[Truc]

6-2 6-7(5) 6-3, 9 aces, 6 DF, BP saved: 5/5

Since he had hardly had any practice time in Miami before the match, I'm just relieved he won.

[Truc]

His h2h against Marat:
2006 Cincinnati 64 Hard (O) G.MONFILS 6-4 7-5
2007 Washington QF Hard (O) G.MONFILS 6-3 7-5

[Bobble]

Glad he got through, he will definitely need to step it up...hopefully he will get more practice, and it also looks like he may have switcehd strings...from the alu power luxilon to the natural big banger luxilon...also may take some adjustment time

[Truc]

How do you know that with the strings? When did he switch?

[Truc]

Gaël Monfils, lui, ne s'est peut-être pas autant rassuré que son compatriote au terme de sa victoire au forceps contre le qualifié Michael Russell (6-2, 6-7[5], 6-3). «J'ai eu des sautes de concentration deux ou trois fois. Je n'arrivais pas construire mon point, je voulais aller un peu trop vite ou alors pas assez. Mais dans l'ensemble, j'ai bien tapé la balle.» Le Français veut mettre derrière lui la déception d'Indian Wells et quelques soucis personnels. «J'ai dû rentrer à Paris pour régler des problèmes personnels après Indian Wells. J'avais besoin d'un break pour prendre le temps de résoudre ça, mais j'ai pu m'entrenir physiquement.» Il devra avoir bien la tête à son match pour son prochain tour contre le Russe Marat Safin. Si ce dernier n'est plus à son meilleur niveau, il garde le talent nécessaire pour sortir un grand match de temps en temps.

http://www.lequipe.fr/Tennis/breves2...une-fusee.html

He went back to France after Indian Wells because of personal problems. He says he had 2-3 concentration lapses in the match today, he was rushing things a little bit or on the contrary slowing down the game too much, but he says he was striking the ball quite well on the whole.