Fourth Seed Taylor Fritz Loses To Gael Monfils In Australian Open 3rd Round
Gael Monfils said he was ready to "do some damage" after stunning fourth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday to reach the last 16 at the Australian Open. The 38-year-old Frenchman fought back 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 to make the fourth round for a sixth time in his 19th Australian Open. He is the second-oldest man to reach the last 16 at Melbourne Park after Roger Federer. Fritz had been in sizzling form before he met Monfils, dropping just eight games in his two previous matches. But the unseeded Frenchman was a different beast, unrelenting with his precision groundstrokes and booming serve to wear down the world number four. Monfils, ranked 41, fired a warning ahead of the tournament when he won the Auckland Classic to become the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history.
