 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Sep 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Sep 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Sep 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 06 Sep 2004 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Sep 2004 | |
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| 10 Sep 2004 - New York - Eleanor Preston | |
| Monfils' dream is shattered |
Gael Monfils’ dream of achieving the junior grand slam ended on an indoor court at the South Shore Indoor Tennis Centre when he was beaten 64 62 by Viktor Troicki of Serbia & Montenegro in the third round of the US Open boys’ competition.
Troicki’s win sent a shock-wave through the junior tournament, where matches were moved inside for the second day running due to the threat of rain and high winds at the Flushing Meadows.
Monfils’ remarkable achievement of winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles meant he could have become the first player in 21 years to win all four junior grand slams in a calendar year if he had won the US Open. Instead Stefan Edberg’s 1983 marker will stand, at least for this year.
Monfils was hampered throughout his first two matches by a lack of fitness following an injury to his knee cap which he sustained after Wimbledon. He struggled past first Remko De Rijke of the Netherlands and then Phillip Simmonds of the USA but Troicki, seeded 16, proved to be a match to far for the eighteen-year-old:
“I didn’t feel physically good because I couldn’t prepare very well. I was injured and I have only been playing again for about a week. It’s not enough time to prepare for a Grand Slam.”
To anyone watching the match it was evident how much the defeat hurt Monfils, he immediately left the court, smashed his racket to pieces and had to be left alone for a while to calm down, explaining his reaction later Monfils showed his maturity:
“I smashed my racket at the end of the match because at first I was really angry and upset. But then I thought, it is only a tennis match, I play tennis because it is fun, other people in the world have much worse problems than losing a tennis match.”
Monfils defeat could be good news for Germany’s Mihail Zverev, who beat America’s Scott Oudsema 61 76 winning the tight second set tiebreaker nine points to seven. Zverev, seeded seven, may be relieved to find himself facing Troicki rather than Monfils in the quarter-finals.
Scoville Jenkins, who lost his first round main draw match to defending men’s champion Andy Roddick enjoyed a big win over Argentina’s Eduardo Schwank, seeded six. Qualifier Sam Querry joined his countryman in the quarters with a gutsy 46 76 75 win over Coen Van Kuelen of the Netherlands.
In Monfils’ absence the mantle of favouritism now falls to Germany’s Andreas Beck, seeded second. Beck was too strong for Great Britain’s Jamie Baker, winning 62 63 to set up a quarterfinal against Jenkins.
Baker’s loss marked a day of mixed fortunes for British players. Wimbledon finalist Miles Kasiri was outclassed by Evgeniy Kirillov of Russia to the tune of 64, 60 but third seed Andrew Murray’s title challenge remained on course thanks to a 61 62 win over fiery New Zealander William Ward. Murray plays Querry tomorrow, when play should return to the courts of Flushing Meadows, weather permitting.
In the girls’ competition New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic made up for Ward’s defeat by earning her place in the quarter-finals with a 63 61 victory over Ekatarina Kosminskaya.
Last year’s finalist Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands kept her title hopes on track with a 64 64 win over Romania’s Madalina Gojnea and will play Erakovic next. Australian Open champion and second seed Shahar Peer of Israel also progressed to the last eight, beating Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada to earn her quarter-final berth.
There was more success for the ITF girls’ team too when Belarussians Olga Govortsova and Viktoria Azarenka, seeded eighth and seventh respectively, both scored wins.
American Jessica Kirkland, seeded fourth, kept the home flag flying in the girls’ juniors with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Agnes Szavay of Hungary.
Related Articles
> Rain makes Wednesday and inside story
> Krajicek Makes Winning Return To Flushing Meadows
> Monfils Begins Historic Title Tilt
> Kuznetsov Leads American Charge At Flushing Meadows
> Monfils Goes For Grand Slam
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