Novak Djokovic continues his search for a 100th ATP Tour title with a Brisbane International clash against Gael Monfils.
Djokovic beat Rinky Hijikata in the first round of the Brisbane International, with the former easing past the latter 6-3, 6-3.
The Serbian is also into the second round of the men’s doubles, where Djokovic is paired with Nick Kyrgios on his return from injury.
Home favourite Kyrgios can now afford to focus on that doubles venture, having lost his singles opener to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Djokovic’s doubts on court surprised Kyrgios, but the pair impressed individually and as a team to emerge victorious.
Novak Djokovic praises ‘incredible’ agility of Gael Monfils ahead of Brisbane match
Back to singles, however, and the 24-time Grand Slam champion now meets a familiar foe in Frenchman Monfils.
Discussing what he is expecting from his next opponent, Djokovic said in his latest Brisbane International press conference: “Expecting for the streak to go on, unbeaten streak against Gael.
“We saw each other in the locker room after our matches today, and we had a talk about it. It’s awesome. He’s a year older than me. He’s still going strong.
“He was always one of the best athletes that we have on the tour. Flexibility, agility, speed, you know, strength, it’s just exceptional with him.
“He’s a super guy. We have known each other since the junior days and played many matches against each other. I look forward to it.
“I think he’s preferring these kind of conditions, where the surface is slightly quicker, and so he can get points off his first serve. His first serve can be really a big weapon if he’s feeling good about it, which seems to be the case.
“Last year he beat [Carlos] Alcaraz in Cincinnati, which, in terms of the speed of the surface, is similar to here and is quite quick.
“So if you serve well and go through your service games and put pressure on your opponent, and he moves as well as anybody, really. He’s shown that he’s got incredible agility and huge defence, and so he’s also really crafty on the net.
“So he’s been an all-round player for so many years and great to still be able to play him at this level, as veterans of the game. So it should be fun.”
What is the head-to-head record between Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils?
Aged 37 and 38 respectively, Djokovic and Monfils have unsurprisingly met in a long list of different events over the years.
The former turned professional back in 2003, a year before the latter, with the pair going on to face each other 19 times.
Remarkably, Djokovic has won all 19 of their meetings so far, the latest of which came in Cincinnati last year.
As per Tennis TV, that round of 16 victory helped ensure the biggest undefeated head-to-head in ATP history.
Monfils did, however, enjoy much better memories of the event this time around, with the ATP Tour number 55 beating Alcaraz and Alexei Popyrin before losing to Holger Rune.
He will now need to produce similar, if not better, levels to bring an end to his miserable Djokovic record in Brisbane.
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