Monfils withdraws from Australian Open to become eligible for protected ranking
ATP
Gael Monfils played sensational tennis in Australia last year, but he won't play there this year in order to be eligible to use his protected ranking in the future.
Monfils played well in 2022. He started the season by winning a title in Adelaide, and he then reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open. Thanks to those results, he was able to be ranked inside of the Top 20 on the ATP Tour.
However, he has also struggled with injuries. His last tournament was the Canadian Open in Montreal in August, and since then, the French player dropped to the World No. 54 position.
He was supposed to defend a big part of his points at the Australian Open, but Monfils chose not to do that to become eligible for a protected ranking. It's an option for players who were injured for at least six months.
Thanks to that, Monfils will be able to enter events with his previous ranking, giving him a chance to recover his original ranking faster. The French player explained his decision for Canal+ Sport.
"I think that, you know, there is the protected ranking when you don’t play for a certain amount of months. I know that if I take it, I have to not play the Australian Open to reach the six months needed, and that will be my decision."
"2023 is an important year for me, a year of transition, transition between my injuries and the fact to be competitive to try to qualify for Paris 2024. I would not like to miss them (Olympics), it would be my last ones."
"I hope that 2024 will not be my last year but maybe the one after that. Before, I said that I wanted to play until I’m 40 but the more time I spend with my daughter, the more I’m thinking that maybe I’ll play a bit less."
