Six years since a thrilling second-round tale of three tiebreaks Down Under, Taylor Fritz and Gael Monfils battle in this year's Australian Open third-round contest.
Possibly the most in-form men on the ATP Tour, this weekend's encounter should be all shades of competitive and fun between one of the most consistent hard-court performers in the last year and the seemingly resurgent Frenchman.
Match preview
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While most of the attention heading into this year's Australian Open was on Jannik Sinner bidding to retain his title, Carlos Alcaraz chasing a Career Grand Slam and Novak Djokovic seeking a historic 25th Major and 100th title on the tour, Fritz remains a contender for top honours.
The American No. 1 has shown as much in his opening rounds against Jenson Brooksby and Cristian Garin, dropping just eight games in both straight-set victories.
Only Rafael Nadal (four) in 2011 and Roger Federer (six) in 2008 have dropped fewer games before the third round, though the 27-year-old will face a sterner test against Monfils, whose commendable start to the year has not gone unnoticed.
Nevertheless, the world No. 4 has shown commendable consistency on this surface in the last 52 weeks, as evidenced by his 12 hard-court victories at the Majors, outdone only by Sinner's 16.
A finalist at the US Open and the year-end ATP Finals in Turin, last year's quarter-finalist in Australia searches for his seventh victory of the new season to improve on a 6-1 win-loss record at Monfils's expense.
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The Frenchman was on the wrong end of two of three tiebreaks six years back in the pair's 2019 round-two match, and he aims to outdo the American this time.
Buoyed by a strong start to the season, in which he claimed the title in Auckland to become the oldest champion on the tour before winning in rounds one and two to advance to the third round in Australia for the first time since 2022, when he progressed to the last eight.
By reaching the third round Down Under, the 38-year-old showman has already surpassed his performance in three of the Grand Slam events in 2023 and has matched his run to this stage at Wimbledon, and defeating Fritz will see Monfils reach the fourth round of a leading tournament for the first time since the 2022 event in Australia.
Entering his match with Fritz with an 8-1 win-loss record highlights the world No. 41's form, which he hopes stands him in good stead for success against the world No. 4 player 11 years his junior.
Although this is not his first rodeo, the Frenchman will be aiming to add to his 37 top-10 career wins by beating a player predicted to go deep in the tournament at Melbourne Park.
Tournament so far
Taylor Fritz:
First round: vs. Jenson Brooksby 6-2 6-0 6-3
Second round: vs. Cristian Garin 6-2 6-1 6-0
Gael Monfils:
First round: vs. Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6[7] 6-3 6-7[6] 6-7[5] 6-4
Second round: vs. Daniel Altmaier 7-5 6-3 7-6[3]
Head To Head
Australian Open (2019) - Round of 64: Fritz 6-3 6-7(8) 7-6(6) 7-6(5)
Fritz was the victor in his only match-up with Monfils on the ATP Tour, coming out on top in tiebreaks in sets three and four after the Frenchman had levelled the match by winning the second-set shootout.
Monfils enters their second meeting on the tour seeking his 38th victory over a top-10 player, though his last triumph against elite opponents at a Grand Slam came 11 years ago – a straight-set success over Grigor Dimitrov at the 2014 US Open.
We say: Fritz to win in four sets
Despite Monfils' impressive run this season, the highest-ranked player the Frenchman has beaten was Mpetshi Perricard (No. 30).
While the 38-year-old packs a punch and will entertain the crowd, Fritz should avoid an upset to secure his 13th hard-court success at a Major since the start of last year.
