We saw some vintage Gael Monfils this week at the 2023 Stockholm Open, as he finished with the trophy by beating Pavel Kotov in the final.
Kotov is a really solid player, and he's had some amazing performances in recent weeks. It was pretty evident that the Russian found something this week in Stockholm as he bested some really strong opponents en route to the final, and what a final it was.
It's a bit sad for Kotov because, for a good portion of this match, he was really on top. He took the opening set behind his signature aggressive play, which sometimes left Monfils a bit stunned.
It's the same reaction many of his opponents had this week, but it was good enough to win the set. The second set almost went his way as he had three break points at 5-5 in the second set.
Had he broken there, Kotov would have likely won the match and his maiden ATP trophy, but he didn't. He allowed Monfils to win that match and then misfired a few times too often in the tiebreak, losing it 6-8.
It was expected for Kotov to regress a bit in the 3rd set, and he did, which allowed Monfils to jump out to an early lead. It's been a tough few weeks for the French player, but he's still capable of a good level, which he showed this week in Stockholm.
After taking the break, Monfils calmly cruised to the finish line never experiencing any sort of trouble. He finished the match with seven aces and 20 winners to win his first trophy since January of 2022. It's the 12th trophy of his career, as the final score ended up being 4-6 7-6(6) 6-3.
It is a good mood enhancer for Monfils ahead of the Paris Masters that's coming up. He played the final there many years ago.
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