Gael Monfils did the unthinkable in
Indian Wells by defeating world number one
Daniil Medvedev in three sets 4-6 6-3 6-1.
The victory is significant in many different ways as it basically ensures that Djokovic will take over number one after the event due to the Russian losing points he learned at last year's events. It's also significant in the sense that it's the 2nd event in a row where Medvedev has not played well at all which some might suggest could be because of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Chris Evert yesterday suggested that all Russian and Ukrainian players are carrying a heavy burden at the moment and their results are backing that up somewhat. Medvedev played well enough to start the match keeping Monfils in check. That won him the first set with 6-4 but things changed in the 2nd set. Monfils became much more aggressive attacking Medvedev mostly on his backhand.
It worked as the French player was able to take an early break. Medvedev pulled it back but eventually, Monfils was able to add another one closing out the 2nd set with 6-3. Medvedev completely fell apart to start the 3rd set committing error after error. Monfils was a wall hitting everything back and countering at a time so efficiently that even Medvedev could not defend.
The Frecnhman was up 4-0 early in the 2nd set with two breaks in hand. The Frenchman finished it off with 6-1 in the final set for the major win and upset.
