SA Tennis Open draws another star
Brad Morgan
11 December 2008
The South African Open tennis tournament has received another big boost with world number 14 Gael Monfils entering the event, which takes place at Montecasino in Johannesburg in February 2009.
Monfils joins fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, ranked sixth in the world, in the SA Open field. With Spain's David Ferrer having also entered, three players inside the top 14 are now in the line-up.
Another big name to confirm his participation was the exciting 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.
Exciting style
Monfils possesses a style of play that endears him to crowds. A charasmatic man, he has a big serve and is a baseliner. He is fast and a hard hitter who chases everything down.
He was the world junior champion in 2004, winning three of the four Grand Slams, losing only in the US Open.
Monfils won his only career title in Sopot in 2005 and has reached five ATP Tour finals besides that.
Scalps
During the course of 2008, he claimed a number of big scalps, including those of Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, and James Blake.
At 22 years of age, his best is likely still to come, especially with French tennis experiencing a renaissance, with Monfils, Tsonga, Gilles Simon, and Richard Gasquet being dubbed the new "Muskateers" - named after France's Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet, and René Lacoste, who dominated Grand Slams and the Davis Cup in the 1920s and 1930s.
Since its return in January 2007, the South African Open has made big strides in a short space of time, with the field improving markedly each year.
Recent SA Open history
In 2007 the event clashed with the Australian Open, the first major of the year, resulting it being a Challenger event, with world number 58 Stefan Koubek the highest ranked player to enter it.
The SA Open moved to East London in 2008, and also moved its date so that it no longer took place at the same time as the Australian Open.
The result was a much improved field that included the winner Ivan Ljubicic, Koubek, 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, and Grand Slam doubles winners Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett.
Now, having moved to Johannesburg, the SA Open is no longer a Challenger event but a full ATP Tour tournament – an important step up from when it returned in 2007 after a break since 1994.
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