ATP Shanghai Masters, Tsitsipas v Monfils: Story of the match

Chapter 2 - The Second Set

Gael Monfils gets inside the line to smack a forehand vs Tsitsipas, Shanghai Masters

The second set was definitely the best in terms of shot quality as both the players reached top gear. One of the highlights of the set, maybe even the match was when Monfils sent a crosscourt shot flying in reply to Tsitsipas' forehand topspin. The ball took a sharp angle towards his right and he was well off-court when he met with it.

Both the players played a whole lot of delightful passing shots, especially Monfils. Tsitsipas' strength throughout was his anticipation of net volleys, both on and off serve. He hit way too many sweet volleys to mention each one. The best one came when he mistimed the previous volley but set himself up beautifully, stretching to make use of his 2nd bite at the cherry.

Coming to the scoreline the players were very comfortable on serve except for a few times. Serves went to deuce only twice, one time off each of their serves. Gael Monfils broke in the 7th game and held the remaining serves to take the set.