The Beginning of the End
Time for Monfils to start his last tournament in Auckland...
Normally, starting off the season with having to defend a title could lead to a lot of pressure. However, Monfils should not be worrying too much about this, considering the circumstances! Besides an exhibition in December, we have not seen him play on tour since Chengdu in September 2025. He started off the 2025 season really well on the outdoor hardcourts, all the way up until the start of clay season. After that, he did not play a lot of matches. Will he be able to replicate this one last time? We know he is very comfortable in these outdoor hardcourt tournaments. Well, he'll need to be ready for a fast-paced battle right away, because he'll be facing Marozsan in the first round, who has a match under his belt already (in Hong Kong).
They have already battled 3 times since 2024, and all matches have gone the distance. Marozsan actually beat Monfils here in Auckland in a competitive third-set tiebreaker in 2024! Monfils came out victorious in Miami and Monte Carlo in 2025. It makes sense why this matchup tends to be quite competitive... Marozsan's big hitting manages to penetrate Monfil's excellent defense every now and then, but not consistently throughout an entire match. Monfils was a medium-sized favorite in both their hardcourt meetings, but now he is older, and Marozsan has had more time to develop ;) Are we in for another big battle, perhaps potentially with Monfils finding that something "extra" that we see every now and then from players during their final year...?
