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  • Ancic Routs Monfils, Sets Up Gonzalez Showdown

    3/15/08 4:31 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - As expected, Mario Ancic prevails over Gael Monfils in a battle of two injury-plagued players. The win sends Ancic into the second-round in Indian Wells, where he will face 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez.

    On paper the Mario Ancic vs. Gael Monfils matchup boasted arguably the biggest names, the most flair, and more talent than any other opening-round match at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. Not surprisingly, however, injury concerns prevented it from producing the best tennis. Ancic crushed Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 23 minutes.

    Monfils is just now coming back from knee injury that prevented him from playing in last year’s U.S. Open and kept him out of tennis from the beginning of 2008 until last week in Dubai. He promptly lost to Tomas Berdych there 6-3, 6-2 and it was the exact same scoreline this week against Ancic. Monfils is simply too rusty to contend with the top players yet, and that especially showed with his serve. The 21-year-old Frenchman double-faulted seven times on Friday and put in just 51 percent of his first serves. He won just 10 of 31 points in which he was forced to throw in a second offering.

    Ancic has also endured more than his fair share of physical ailments, most recently back and shoulder problems, but he is clearly in fine form now unlike Monfils. The 6’5’’ Croat did not serve as well in this match as he did in Marseille (where he was runner-up to Andy Murray) and Zagreb (where he reached the semifinals), but he still had way too much game for Monfils.

    Ancic will have a much tougher time in the second round with 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez. The Chilean brings a massive game to the table just like Ancic and he has already won a title this season in Vina del Mar. Gonzalez won the first two meetings between these two players, but Ancic took the most recent two to level the head-to-head score.

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