Djokovic Makes It 20 Wins Against Monfils To Continue Perfect 2025 Season Start

Thursday, 02 January 2025 at 11:11

byErik Virostko

Novak Djokovic improved his perfect record against Gael Monfils to 20 consecutive wins after beating him at the 2025 Brisbane International.

There are not many tennis players that met 20 times on the tennis court, and there are even fewer that did so with only one player winning all of the matches. That's the case for Djokovic and Monfils, as their meeting in Brisbane this year was their 20th.

In the past, the two met in junior categories, but their first Tour-level match happened in the first round of the 2005 US Open, and given the result of that match, few would have predicted that Djokovic would go on to win the following 19, as the Serbian barely beat fellow youngster back then, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5), 0-6, 7-5.

Two decades later, Djokovic added the same amount of wins as years have passed. In fact, beating Monfils became something of a tradition for the Serbian player.

Since 2005, he beat him every year except for 2007, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2024. It's been a really special rivalry, and its 20th chapter was written at the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane.

Djokovic started his new season by beating Rinky Hijikata, while Monfils outplayed 19-year-old Nishesh Basavareddy to set up another meeting with his nemesis.

Although previously, the Frenchman was relatively close to beating Djokovic in some of their meetings, this one was not one of those. The 24-time major winner controlled the match from start to finish.

The start of the match was marked by Djokovic's great serving. He hit two aces in the opening game, but he had troubles in his second service game of the match, facing a break point.

He saved that by hitting yet another ace, which meant that Djokovic hit already four aces by the time the third game ended. In the following games, he was able to break Monfils' serve, and despite hitting his only double fault of the match in the next game, the Serbian held his serve to confirm the break and lead 4-1.

From there, both players held their serve relatively easily. Monfils led 30-0 on Djokovic's serve when the Serbian player was serving for the set, but a series of unforced errors from the Frenchman meant that Djokovic won the first set 6-3.

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Monfils struggled with his serve early in the second set, committing two doubles faults in the first game of the second set, but a timely ace bailed him out of the problems, and he was able to hold his serve.

However, another double fault in Monfils' following service game caused him more trouble, as he faced three break points, and he couldn't save any, with Djokovic breaking his serve again.

The 37-year-old Serbian didn't face a single break point in the second set, and when Monfils served to stay in the match, he committed yet another double fault and ended the match with a backhand unforced error.

Djokovic won the match 6-3, 6-3, extending his perfect record against Monfils to 20-0 and reaching the 2025 Brisbane International quarter-finals. His next opponent will be Reilly Opelka from the United States.

This is also the most lopsided rivalry in the history of the ATP. It was also before this meeting with a 19-0 record, and now Djokovic further extended it by winning the 20th match.

The closest extremely lopsided rivalry is the one between Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet, with the Spaniard leading the H2H 18-0, a record that won't change unless both players choose to come out of retirement.