Berrettini ousts Monfils in the first round of the Dubai tournament

Gaël Monfils is back in competition! After a very good start to the season marked by his title in Auckland, the Frenchman was playing his first match on the ATP circuit since his withdrawal in the Australian Open's round of 16 against Ben Shelton a month ago.

Monfils, who had withdrawn from Montpellier, Marseille, and Doha, was indeed on the courts in Dubai but had drawn a difficult lot.

The 38-year-old Frenchman was facing Matteo Berrettini, who is gradually regaining his form and who beat Novak Djokovic in Doha last week.

Especially since Monfils has never beaten Berrettini in their three previous encounters.

The two men are meeting for the first time since their clash in the 2022 Australian Open quarterfinals, won by the Italian in five sets.

The start of the match was balanced, as even though Berrettini managed to break, the Frenchman didn't give up and made up for his deficit.

The scenario repeated a few games later when the 2021 Wimbledon finalist served to win the first set.

However, Monfils never managed to take the lead, and Berrettini kept his break advantage obtained at 5-5 to win the first set.

Monfils then let his chance slip away. After converting 2 break points out of 6, he no longer troubled his opponent on his service game.

On the contrary, Berrettini was ruthless on break points (4 converted out of 4) and eventually won logically (7-5, 6-4 in 1h23).

For his first match after the Australian Open, Monfils showed good form but faced a solid opponent who maintained his undefeated record against him in direct encounters.

In the round of 16, the 28-year-old Italian will face Christopher O'Connell, who benefited from Grigor Dimitrov's withdrawal earlier in the afternoon.