As I am somewhat addicted to fashion magazines—you would not have known that from the way I dress—it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that I came across a charming photo spread of tennis sensation Gaël Monfils in the current issue of Vogue. Monfils, a free-spirited and immensely entertaining French player who has been climbing the ranks for the past couple of years (he now stands at #11 in the world) has French-Caribbean roots. His mother Sylvette is from Martinique, while his father Rufin is from Guadeloupe. Here’s a little tidbit on him from Facebook (of all places):
“I’m me. I mean, like I love to show my emotion. I love to do a show, because when I was 9, 11, to play in front of a lot of people it’s like for me something amazing,” Monfils said. “So like I do it for me. It’s fun. You know, I have to show them I am enjoying on the court, you know, I enjoy my sport. And then they show me emotion, so it’s great.”
On court, 23 year old Monfils is an absolute delight to watch. He is all arms and legs going in every direction. He’s almost like a rubber-man and at 1.93m he is one of the tallest players on the tour. Watch Monfils in action and you are bound to leave with a smile on your face; he is just that type of player and personality. How he manages to retrieve some returns is amazing, that’s why describing him like a rubber man fits the bill.
“I like little tricks, but with a lot of luck. I mean, it’s part of the game,” Monfils said smiling.
