Tennis – 2016 Australian Open – Day 10 Men’s Preview

2016 AUSTRALIAN OPEN

DAY 10 MEN’S NOTES

Wednesday 27 January

Quarterfinals Bottom Half

Featured matches

No. 2 Andy Murray (GBR) v No. 8 David Ferrer (ESP)
No. 13 Milos Raonic (CAN) v No. 23 Gael Monfils (FRA)
A look at the quarterfinalists…

Player	Country	Age	Ranking	Best Australian Open performance	Best Grand Slam performance
No. 1 Novak Djokovic	SRB	28	1	W 2008, 2011-13, 2015	10 titles
No. 2 Andy Murray	GBR	28	2	RU 2010-11, 2013, 2015	2 titles
No. 3 Roger Federer	SUI	34	3	W 2004, 2006-07, 2010	17 titles
No. 6 Tomas Berdych	CZE	30	6	SF 2014-15	RU 2010 Wimbledon
No. 7 Kei Nishikori	JPN	26	7	QF 2012, 2015, 2016	RU 2014 US Open
No. 8 David Ferrer	ESP	33	8	SF 2011, 2013	RU 2013 Roland Garros
No. 13 Milos Raonic	CAN	25	14	QF 2015, 2016	SF 2014 Wimbledon
No. 23 Gael Monfils	FRA	29	25	QF 2016	SF 2008 Roland Garros

(Written prior to the Djokovic v Nishikori quarterfinal)

4-time Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray will be hoping to continue a fine performance from the top British singles players at this year’s event when he takes on David Ferrer. Murray, along with Johanna Konta in the women’s draw, is one of 2 British singles players to reach the quarterfinals at the same Grand Slam event for the first time since 1997 Wimbledon when Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski reached the last 8. Not since the December edition of the 1977 Australian Open have 2 British singles players reached the semifinals at the same Grand Slam event.

Ferrer, the only one of the 8 quarterfinalists to reach the last 8 without dropping a set, is looking to end a 5-match losing streak against Murray today. The likelihood of the Spaniard progressing to the semifinals without dropping a set – for only the 2nd time at a major – is slim, given that all 4 of their previous Grand Slam meetings have gone to 4 sets. That, added to the fact that Murray has won 3 of those meetings, makes this a tough test for Ferrer.

The prize on offer to the winner of the quarterfinal clash between Gael Monfils and Milos Raonic is a maiden Australian Open semifinal – and the chance to equal their best Grand Slam performance. It’s been nearly 8 years since Monfils last reached the semifinals at a major, while Raonic has more recent experience of a Grand Slam semifinal – at 2014 Wimbledon.

2 ANDY MURRAY (GBR) v NO. 8 DAVID FERRER (ESP)

Head-to-head: Murray leads 12-6

2006 Barcelona Clay (O) R32 Ferrer 46 76(4) 61

2006 Toronto-1000 Hard (O) R64 Murray 62 76(6)

2010 Rome-1000 Clay (O) R16 Ferrer 63 64

2010 Madrid-1000 Clay (O) QF Ferrer 75 63

2010 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Murray 62 62

2011 Australian Open Hard (O) SF Murray 46 76(2) 61 76(2)

2011 Tokyo Hard (O) SF Murray 62 63

2011 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) FR Murray 75 64

2011 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Ferrer 64 75

2012 Roland Garros Clay (O) QF Ferrer 64 67(3) 63 62

2012 Wimbledon Grass (O) QF Murray 67(5) 76(6) 64 76(4)

2013 Miami-1000 Hard (O) FR Murray 26 64 76(1)

2014 Shanghai-1000 Hard (O) R16 Ferrer 26 61 62

2014 Vienna Hard (I) FR Murray 57 62 75

2014 Valencia Hard (O) SF Murray 64 75

2015 Roland Garros Clay (O) QF Murray 76(4) 62 57 61

2015 Paris-1000 Hard (I) SF Murray 64 63

2015 ATP World Tour Finals Hard (I) RR Murray 64 64

Murray is bidding to record his 6th straight win over Ferrer, having not lost to the Spaniard since 2014 Shanghai-1000.

Murray has a 3-1 win-loss record against Ferrer at the Grand Slams. All 4 of their previous Grand Slam meetings have been extended to 4 sets.

Murray has not lost to a player ranked as low as No. 8 today’s opponent at the Australian Open since losing to No. 15 Fernando Verdasco in 5-sets in the round of 16 here in 2009.

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Raonic	Monfils
Murray	3-3	4-2
Ferrer	4-0	3-3

MURRAY v FERRER

28 Age 33

2 ATP Ranking 8

35 Titles 26

157-37 Career Grand Slam Record 134-51

43-10 Australian Open Record 39-13

556-165 Career Record 663-313

378-107 Career Record – Hard 312-166

4-0 2016 Record 6-2

4-0 2016 Record – Hard 6-2

18-7 Career Five-Set Record 20-11

8 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 4

158-98 Career Tiebreak Record 148-131

1-0 2016 Tiebreak Record 1-0

Road to the Quarterfinals

MURRAY	Time		Time	FERRER
d. Alexander Zverev 61 62 63 d. Sam Groth 60 64 61	2:07 1:31	1st round 2nd round	1:36 2:32	d. (Q) Peter Gojowczyk 64 64 62 d. (WC) Lleyton Hewitt 62 64 64
d. No. 32 Joao Sousa 62 36 62 62	2:38	3rd round	1:45	d. No. 31 Steve Johnson 61 64 64
d. No. 16 Bernard Tomic 64 64 76(4)	2:30	Round of 16	2:04	d. No. 10 John Isner 64 64 75

total time on court	8:46	(IBM time)	7:57	total time on court

4-time Australian Open runner-up Murray is looking to reach his 6th Australian Open semifinal and move into joint-4th position on the table for most appearances in the last 4 here in the Open Era.

Australian Open semifinals reached (Open Era)

Player	No. of AO semifinals
Roger Federer	12
Stefan Edberg	8
Ivan Lendl	7
Andre Agassi Novak Djokovic??* Andy Murray??*	6 *6??* *6??*
Pete Sampras Mats Wilander	5 5

*(Written prior to Djokovic’s quarterfinal on Tuesday evening)

Murray is bidding to reach his 18th Grand Slam semifinal and move into joint-10th place with Boris Becker on the Open Era list for most Grand Slam semifinals reached. Federer (39 semifinals), Djokovic (28*) and Nadal (23) are the only active players to reach the last 4 at a Grand Slam on more occasions than Murray. [NB *Written prior to Djokovic’s quarterfinal match on Tuesday night.]

Murray is bidding to reach his 18th Grand Slam semifinal and extend his record for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by a British man ahead of Fred Perry (13 semifinals). Murray has reached the semifinals at the Australian Open 5 times, Roland Garros 3 times, Wimbledon 6 times and the US Open 3 times.

Murray and compatriot Johanna Konta are bidding to reach the semifinals and ensure that 2 British singles players – man or woman – feature in the last 4 at the same Grand Slam event for the first time since the 1977 Australian Open (December edition), when John Lloyd lost in the final of the men’s event and Sue Barker fell in the semifinals of the women’s. [NB. The Australian Open was played twice in 1977.]

By reaching the quarterfinals here, Murray and Konta have ensured Great Britain has male and female representation in the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 1977 Australian Open when Barker, Robin Drysdale and Lloyd reached that stage. It is the first time 2 Brits – men or women – have featured in the quarterfinals at the same major since Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski reached the last 8 at 1997 Wimbledon.

Murray and brother Jamie are bidding to become the first brothers in the Open Era to reach the semifinals in both the men’s singles and men’s doubles events at the Australian Open. Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares will play Adrian Mannarino/Lucas Pouille in the last 4.

Murray is through to the quarterfinals here for the 7th straight year. He is in joint-5th place on the Open Era list for most consecutive appearances in the last 8 here.

No. of consecutive Australian Open quarterfinals (Open Era)

Roger Federer	11
Stefan Edberg	10
Novak Djokovic	9*
Rafael Nadal Ivan Lendl Andy Murray	8 7 7*

*Streak active

Murray has lost in the quarterfinals here once before, falling to Federer in 4 sets in the last 8 in 2014. He is contesting his 11th straight Australian Open and 40th Grand Slam overall.

Murray has a 1-3 win-loss record in 5-set matches at the Australian Open. The only 5-set match he has won here came in 2013 when he defeated Federer in the semifinals. He has won 6 of his last 7 five-set matches, with his only defeat in that time coming to Djokovic in the semifinals at 2015 Roland Garros. He has an 18-7 win-loss record in 5-set matches overall.

Murray has come from 0-2 down to win a 5-set match on 8 occasions, including in his most recent 5-set match against Adrian Mannarino in the 2nd round at the 2015 US Open.

Murray has won 12 of his last 13 matches against Spanish opposition. His only loss to a Spanish player in that time came in his most recent with a Spaniard when he fell to Nadal at the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals.

Murray is the leading British man in history in terms of Grand Slam match-wins with a 157-37 win-loss record. He sits in 11th place on the list for the most Open Era Grand Slam match-wins behind Boris Becker (163-40).

Murray has lost 3 of his last 4 Tour-level matches against Top 10 opposition. His only win in that time came against No. 7 today’s opponent in the round-robin at the ATP World Tour Finals. Murray has also lost 3 of his last 4 matches against Top 10 opposition at the Grand Slams – his only win in that time coming against today’s opponent in the quarterfinals at 2015 Roland Garros.

Murray won 11 rubbers in Davis Cup last year to help Great Britain win Davis Cup for the first time since 1936. He was the first man to win 8 live singles rubbers in one year since the introduction of the World Group in 1982. Great Britain defeated Belgium 3-1 in the Final in Ghent.

Murray is looking to become the first man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title after losing 4 finals at any one Grand Slam. He finished as runner-up to Federer here in 2010, and to Djokovic in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Federer, at Roland Garros, and Ivan Lendl, at the US Open, are the only players to lose 3 Grand Slam finals at one major before winning the title in the Open Era.

Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2015, Murray reached the semifinals at Roland Garros (l. Djokovic) and Wimbledon (l. Federer). He fell to Kevin Anderson in the round of 16 at the US Open – the first time he had lost before the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam since the 2010 US Open.

Also in 2015, Murray won 4 titles including his first titles on clay at Munich (d. Philipp Kohlschreiber), where he became the first British player to win a Tour-level clay court title since Buster Mottram at 1976 Palma, and Madrid-1000 (d. Nadal). He also won the title at Queen’s (d. Anderson) and Montreal-1000
(d. Djokovic).

Murray warmed up for the Australian Open at the Hopman Cup. He won 2 of his 3 singles matches in Perth, defeating Kenny de Schepper and Alexander Zverev, but losing to Nick Kyrgios.

By winning his 1st round match here, Murray took sole occupancy of 8th place on the list for the most Australian Open match-wins in the Open Era with 40. If he reaches the final here, he would tie Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal in joint-6th place on 45 wins.

Murray was one of 3 Grand Slam champions through to the quarterfinals from the 7 to start in the men’s main draw here. Murray won the 2012 US Open title (d. Djokovic) and became the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title in 77 years in 2013 (d. Djokovic).

Murray is coached by 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo.

FERRER is bidding to reach his 3rd semifinal here and equal his best Australian Open performance.

Ferrer’s best Australian Open performance is reaching the semifinals as No. 7 seed in 2011 (l. today’s opponent) and as No. 4 seed in 2013 (l. Novak Djokovic).

Ferrer is bidding to reach his 3rd Australian Open semifinal and close the gap on Rafael Nadal for the most appearances in the last 4 here by a Spanish man. Nadal (4 semifinals) and Ferrer (2) are the only Spanish players to have reached multiple semifinals at Melbourne Park in the Open Era.

Ferrer is bidding to reach his 7th Grand Slam semifinal and take sole occupancy of 2nd place on the list for most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by a Spanish man in the Open Era after Rafael Nadal (23 semifinals). Ferrer is currently in joint-2nd place on the table with Ferrero, who also reached 6 Grand Slam semifinals.

Ferrer is the 2nd most successful Spanish man in terms of Grand Slam match-wins with a 134-51 win-loss record, behind Rafael Nadal (198-30).

Ferrer is bidding to end a 7-match Tour-level losing streak against Top 2 opposition. He has not defeated a Top 2 opponent since beating No. 1 Nadal in the quarterfinals at 2014 Monte Carlo-1000. He has a 7-35 win-loss record against Top 2 opposition overall.

Ferrer is bidding to end a 5-match losing streak against Top 2 opposition at the Grand Slams. He has not defeated a Top 2 opponent at a major since defeating No. 1 Nadal in the quarterfinals at the 2011 Australian Open. He has a 2-5 win-loss record against Top 2 players overall having also defeated No. 2 Nadal at the 2007 US Open.

Ferrer is bidding to record his 40th match-win at the Australian Open and take sole ownership of 9th place on the list for the most Open Era Australian Open match-wins.

By reaching the quarterfinals here, Ferrer has moved into joint-9th place on the list for most Australian Open quarterfinal appearances in the Open Era.

Most Australian Open quarterfinal appearances (Open Era)

Roger Federer

Stefan Edberg

Novak Djokovic

Ivan Lendl

Rafael Nadal

John Newcombe

Andre Agassi

Andy Murray

Tomas Berdych

David Ferrer

Andy Roddick

Pete Sampras

Ferrer is bidding to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam without dropping a set for the 2nd time in his career. The only Grand Slam where he has reached the last 4 without dropping a set was at 2013 Roland Garros. He is through to quarterfinals at Melbourne Park without dropping a set for the first time in his career.

Ferrer has lost in the quarterfinals here on 3 occasions. He fell at this stage at Melbourne Park in 2008 (l. Djokovic), 2012 (l. Djokovic) and 2014 (l. Tomas Berdych). He is contesting his 14th successive Australian Open and 52nd Grand Slam.

Elsewhere at the Grand Slams in 2015, Ferrer reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros (l. Murray) and the 3rd round at the US Open (l. Jeremy Chardy). He missed Wimbledon with an elbow injury, ending a run of 50 straight Grand Slam appearances.

Ferrer’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the final as No. 4 seed at 2013 Roland Garros, where he lost in straight sets to Nadal. At 31 years 68 days, he was the 4th oldest man to reach the Roland Garros final.

Ferrer warmed up for the Australian Open by reaching the semifinals at Auckland, losing to Jack Sock. He fell in the 1st round at Doha to Illya Marchenko.

Ferrer finished 2015 at No. 7 in the rankings – the 6th consecutive year he has finished in the Top 10. He won 5 titles in 2015, the most titles he has won in a calendar year since 2012. He won the titles at Doha
(d. Berdych), Rio de Janeiro (d. Fabio Fognini), Acapulco (d. Kei Nishikori), Kuala Lumpur (d. Feliciano Lopez) and Vienna (d. Johnson). He played just one event between Roland Garros and the US Open due to an elbow injury.

Ferrer started working with Francisco Fogues in 2015.

13 MILOS RAONIC (CAN) v NO. 23 GAEL MONFILS (FRA)

Head-to-head: Monfils leads 2-0

2011 San Jose Hard (I) SF Raonic w/o (left wrist)

2011 Stockholm Hard (I) SF Monfils 67(6) 64 63

2013 Halle Grass (O) R32 Monfils 64 62

Possible semifinal head-to-heads

	Murray	Ferrer
Raonic	3-3	0-4
Monfils	2-4	3-3

RAONIC v MONFILS

25 Age 29

14 ATP Ranking 25

8 Titles 5

47-19 Career Grand Slam Record 77-36

18-5 Australian Open Record 21-10

215-103 Career Record 351-204

158-64 Career Record – Hard 213-120

8-0 2016 Record 4-0

8-0 2016 Record – Hard 4-0

6-4 Career Five-Set Record 15-11

0 Comebacks from 0-2 Down 2

139-88 Career Tiebreak Record 146-101

4-1 2016 Tiebreak Record 1-0

Road to the Quarterfinals

RAONIC	Time		Time	MONFILS
d. Lucas Pouille 61 64 64	1:26	1st round	1:23	d. (Q) Yuichi Sugita 61 63 62
d. Tommy Robredo 76(6) 76(5) 75	2:55	2nd round	1:40	d. Nicolas Mahut 75 64 61
d. No. 21 Viktor Troicki 62 63 64	1:46	3rd round	1:44	d. (Q) Stephane Robert 75 63 62
d. No. 4 Stan Wawrinka 64 63 57 46 63	3:44	Round of 16	2:37	d. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 75 36 63 76(4)

total time on court	9:51	(IBM time)	7:24	total time on court

RAONIC is bidding to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance. He would become the first Canadian man in history to reach the semifinals here.

Raonic is bidding to become the 2nd Canadian player – man or woman – to reach the semifinals Eugenie Bouchard in 2014 is the only other Canadian to reach the last 4 at the Australian Open.

Raonic is looking to become the 2nd Canadian player – man or woman – to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals. Bouchard is the only other Canadian player to reach multiple semifinals at a major having reached the last 4 at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2014.

Raonic’s best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals as No. 8 seed at 2014 Wimbledon (l. Roger Federer). He became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after Robert Powell at 1908 Wimbledon.

If he wins today Raonic will extend his 8-match Tour-level winning streak to 9 and equal his best Tour-level winning streak. He has not lost a match at Tour-level since losing to No. 7 Rafael Nadal in the 3rd round at 2015 Shanghai-1000. His best Tour-level winning streak is 9 straight wins in 2012, which took in a singles victory in the Davis Cup first round, the San Jose title and a run to the semifinals at Memphis.

Raonic is looking to become the first 13 seed to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since David Nalbandian at the 2003 US Open. He would become the first No. 13 seed to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since seeds were introduced.
Raonic warmed up for the Australian Open by winning his 8th career title as No. 4 seed at Brisbane, avenging his defeat to Federer in the 2015 final with his 2nd career victory over the Swiss. All 8 of Raonic’s career titles have come on a hard court.

Raonic has won 7 of his last 9 Tour-level matches against Top 30 players and is on a 4-match winning streak against Top 30 opposition. The last time he lost to a Top 30 player was to No. 7 Nadal at 2015 Shanghai-1000. He has a 55-66 win-loss record against Top 30 players overall.

Raonic’s victory over No. 26 Troicki in the 3rd round here ended a run of 3 straight Grand Slam losses to Top 30 opposition. He has a 9-13 win-loss record against Top 30 opposition at the majors

By reaching the quarterfinals here, Raonic has equalled his best Australian Open performance. He also reached the last 8 here last year as No. 8 seed (l. Novak Djokovic). This is his 6th Australian Open appearance and his 20th Grand Slam overall.

By reaching the quarterfinals here, Raonic has become the first Canadian man to reach 4 Grand Slam quarterfinals. Powell is the only other Canadian man to have reached multiple Grand Slam quarterfinals – at 1908, 1910 and 1912 Wimbledon.

By reaching the quarterfinals here, Raonic has become the first Canadian man to reach multiple Australian Open quarterfinals. Michael Belkin is the only other Canadian man to reach the quarterfinals here, reaching the last 8 at the 1968 Australian Championships.

Elsewhere in Grand Slam play in 2015, Raonic reached the 3rd round at both Wimbledon (l. Nick Kyrgios) and the US Open (l. Feliciano Lopez). He missed Roland Garros with a right foot injury, which required surgery in May 2015.

Raonic’s best result in 2015 was winning the title at St. Petersburg (d. Joao Sousa). He also finished as runner-up at Brisbane (l. Federer) and reached the semifinals at Indian Wells-1000 and Rotterdam. He ended his season after Shanghai-1000 in October due to a hip injury.

Raonic reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 in May 2015 after reaching the quarterfinals at Madrid-1000 (l. Andy Murray). He finished the year in the Top 20 for the 4th straight year and plays here at No. 14.

Raonic became the first Canadian to be seeded in the men’s singles at a Grand Slam event in the Open Era at 2011 Roland Garros. He plays here seeded No. 13 – his lowest Grand Slam seeding since 2013 Wimbledon.

Raonic has played Davis Cup since 2010 and helped Canada reach the quarterfinals last year. Canada will face France in the 1st round in Guadeloupe on 4-6 March.

Raonic was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada in 1994. He started playing tennis aged 8.

Raonic started working with former world No. 1 Carlos Moya at the 2016 Australian Open. Moya finished runner-up here in 1997 before going on to win Roland Garros in 1998. He is also coached by Riccardo Piatti.

MONFILS is bidding to reach the semifinals here for the first time and equal his best Grand Slam performance.

Monfils’ best Grand Slam result is a semifinal finish at 2008 Roland Garros, where ranked No. 59 he lost to Roger Federer 62 57 63 75. He is making his 11th appearance at the Australian Open and his 37th appearance at a Grand Slam overall.

Monfils is bidding to become the first Frenchman into the semifinals at the Australian Open since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2010. Just 6 Frenchman have reached the last 4 here in the Open Era – Patrick Proisy (1973), Yannick Noah (1990), Nicolas Escude (1998), Arnaud Clement (2001), Sebastien Grosjean (2001) and Tsonga (2008, 2010).

Monfils is bidding to become the 8th Frenchman to reach multiple Grand Slam semifinals in the Open Era.

Most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by a Frenchman (Open Era)

Player	No. of semifinal appearances
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	6
Sebastien Grosjean Henri Leconte Cedric Pioline	4 4 4
Richard Gasquet	3
Yannick Noah Patrick Proisy	2 2

Monfils is on a 3-match losing streak against Top 20 opposition at the Grand Slams. The last time he defeated a Top 20 player at a major was at the 2014 US Open when he defeated No. 8 Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16. He has a 3-5 win-loss record against Top 20 players here, with his last victory coming over No. 20 Alexandr Dolgopolov in the 1st round in 2013, and a 12-19 win-loss record against Top 20 players at the majors overall.

Monfils is on a 5-match Tour-level losing streak against Top 20 players. His last victory over a Top 20 player came against No. 11 Dimitrov at 2015 Monte Carlo-1000. He has a 61-85 Tour-level win-loss record against Top 20 players overall.

Monfils is bidding to become the first 23 seed to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since Robin Soderling reached the final at 2009 Roland Garros. The No. 23 seed has never reached the semifinals here.

If Monfils reaches the semifinals for the first time on his 11th Australian Open appearance, he will equal the record for the most attempts before reaching the semifinals here in the Open Era.

No. of attempts before reaching the Australian Open semifinals (Open Era)

Tomas Berdych

Colin Dibley

Mark Woodforde

Gael Monfils??

11??

Bob Giltinan

Kim Warwick

Monfils is looking to record his 22nd victory at Melbourne Park and equal Fabrice Santoro in 3rd place on the list for most Open Era match-wins by a Frenchman at the Australian Open.

Most Open Era Australian Open matches won by a Frenchman

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	29
Sebastien Grosjean	25
Fabrice Santoro	22
Gael Monfils	21
Richard Gasquet Gilles Simon	20 20

By reaching his 7th Grand Slam quarterfinal, Monfils has closed the gap on Cedric Pioline in 5th place on the list for most Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances by a Frenchman in the Open Era.

Most Grand Slam quarterfinals reached by a Frenchman (Open Era)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	12
Yannick Noah	10
Sebastien Grosjean Henri Leconte	9 9
Cedric Pioline	8
Gael Monfils	7

Monfils is the first Frenchman to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open since Tsonga and Jeremy Chardy fell in the last 8 here in 2013.

By reaching the quarterfinals here for the first time on his 11th Australian Open appearance, Monfils has moved into joint-2nd place with Mark Woodforde on the list for the most attempts before reaching the quarterfinals here in the Open Era behind Fabrice Santoro (14 attempts).

Monfils’ previous best Australian Open performance was a round of 16 finish in 2009, when he retired with a right wrist injury when trailing Gilles Simon 64 26 61.

Last year here Monfils fell to Jerzy Janowicz in 5-sets in the 2nd round. He has a 15-11 win-loss record in 5-set matches and a 3-3 five-set win-loss record at Melbourne Park.

In Grand Slam play in 2015 Monfils reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros (l. Federer) and fell to Simon in 5 sets in the 3rd round at Wimbledon. He lost in the 2nd round at the Australian Open and retired with a lower back injury in the 1st round at the US Open (l. Illya Marchenko).

Monfils’ best result in 2015 was reaching the final at Marseille (l. Simon). He reached 6 further semifinals at Montpellier, Monte Carlo-1000, Bucharest, Stuttgart, Umag and Vienna.

Monfils did not play an Australian Open warm-up event. His opening round win over Sugita was his first match-win since he reached the semifinals at 2015 Vienna. His win over Robert in the 3rd round was his 350th Tour-level match-win.

Monfils has won 5 career singles titles. 4 of his 5 career titles have come on hard courts at 2009 Metz, 2010 and 2014 Montpellier and 2011 Stockholm.

Monfils is a 2-time Davis Cup finalist, having helped France to the finals in 2010 (l. Serbia) and 2014
(l. Switzerland). France will play Canada in the World Group first round in Guadeloupe on 4-6 March.

Monfils won the boys’ singles title here in 2004 and is bidding to become the first player since Stefan Edberg to win both the boys’ and men’s singles titles here. Edberg captured the boys’ singles title in 1983, before winning the men’s singles in 1985 and 1987.

Monfils narrowly missed out on achieving the Junior Grand Slam in 2004 after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His preparation for the junior US Open that year was hampered by a knee injury and he lost in the 3rd round to Viktor Troicki. He was named 2004 ITF Junior Boys’ World Champion. He is the only former junior Australian Open champion through to the quarterfinals here from the 8 to start the men’s main draw.

Monfils is coached by former world No. 39 Mikael Tillstrom, who reached the quarterfinals here in 1996.