The majority of Gael Monfils’ prime years on the ATP Tour were spent, like many others, trying to find an answer for Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Monfils, who reached a career-high of sixth in the world, managed to make two Grand Slam semifinals in his career, but was denied on both occasions by a member of the ‘big three’.
He lost to Federer in the 2008 Roland Garros semifinals and bowed out in the final four of the 2016 US Open with a defeat to Djokovic.
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Like almost everyone else who played during tennis’ golden era, Monfils has a losing record to each of the three legends.
However, only one of Djokovic, Nadal and Federer has never lost to the Frenchman.
Gael Monfils discusses playing the ‘big three’ during his career
The Serb is the only member of the ‘big three’ with an undefeated record against him: 20-0.
When asked who the toughest to face was on Silver State Sports & Entertainment Network, Monfils said: “Of course, for me, number one is Novak Djokovic. I never beat him. I never beat him. And so far, maybe this year is my last chance if I have to face him.
“But for me, Novak has this capability to actually answer all my questions. Because tennis is a lot of questions. You ask, you answer, you ask, you answer. He was just too good. And of course, he is a legend of our sport. So no shame in that.
“Rafa, I could beat him, but the thing is, he beat me way more than I beat him. I think I only beat him twice.
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“But he was extremely hard to play against with his physicality. He was imposing on you like a really rough and physical match.
“His capability of moving the ball was extremely different because he was a lefty. So he was just different as well. So another big legend.
“Federer, he was just like a quicker thinker, quicker player. Everything that you may think that you want to do against him, he knew it sometime before you, and then he could put you in a very bad situation.
“It was unreal how he could escape as well from an awkward situation for himself. His finesse, his flair of tennis was completely different.
“And somehow those three guys, three of the biggest legends of our sport, were just beautiful to play against, beautiful to learn [from] and also extremely fun for me to play against.”
Gael Monfils’ record against each member of the ‘big three’
While he has never picked up a win against Djokovic, Monfils has found success against Federer and Nadal in the past.
Monfils trailed 2-14 in the head-to-head with the Spaniard, and both of his wins came at the Qatar Open.
He defeated Nadal in the Doha quarterfinals during the 2009 season and in the semifinals of the tournament in 2012.
Against Federer, Monfils emerged victorious on four different occasions, the first of which was in front of a home crowd in the 2010 Paris Masters semifinals.
Monfils then went on to overcome Federer at the 2013 Shanghai Masters, the 2014 Davis Cup, and the 2015 Monte-Carlo Masters.
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