PARIS — Gael Monfils delivered one final ace, his 21st, and closed out his latest raucous, five-set victory on Court Philippe Chatrier to the delight of roaring, partisan spectators.
An entertainer at heart, Monfils pounded his chest with his right fist repeatedly and, after hugging opponent Diego Schwartzman at the net, used his right shoe to etch a sketch of a smiley face on the French Open main stadium’s red clay.
Needless to say, his adoring public loved that, too.
Since 1983, when Yannick Noah became the most recent man from France to win the championship at Roland Garros, the locals have not had a whole lot to cheer about at their Grand Slam tennis tournament. So mark Wednesday as a rare bright light along the way: All five of the host country’s men in action advanced to the third round, including three who were seeded — No. 12 Gilles Simon, No. 13 Monfils and No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — and two who defeated seeded players — Nicolas Mahut and Benoit Paire.
“Everybody,” Tsonga said, “remembers Yannick’s victory.”
Monfils trailed Argentina’s Schwartzman two sets to one, before coming back and improving to 14-10 in five-setters with a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win filled with loud cheers between points and plenty of supportive cries of “Allez!”
“Actually, today I won because I had the crowd behind me,” Monfils said. “They give me, let’s say, some wings.”
Both men have reached the semifinals in Paris — Monfils in 2008, and Tsonga in 2013. And both say they find the attention from the crowds more help than hindrance.
“For me,” Tsonga said, “it’s something positive.”
Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up in 2008, had little trouble Wednesday while defeating Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Simon also was a straight-set winner, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 over Slovakia’s Martin Klizan.
“If everything goes fine,” Simon said, “I feel capable of doing great things.”
Thumbnail image via David Vincent/Associated Press
