Gael Monfils: The GIF that Keeps on Giving

Embed from Getty Images

Gael Monfils is largely known for his on-court athleticism and occasionally off-the-wall shot selection – but in today’s Davis Cup rubber against Roger Federer, the Frenchman kept the crazy bottled up for the majority of the match to rout the 17-time Grand Slam champion in straight sets. Monfils’ serve was clicking and he was being aggressive throughout, keeping his country well and truly in the mix. Though Federer did not look like the player who strolled into the World Tour Finals semifinals without losing a set, Monfils put in one of his best and most focused performances of the year to defeat Federer and level the tie at 1-1 – which gives us an opportunity to look back at some the 28-year-old’s craziest moments on court…for better or worse.

Remember when then notoriously injury-prone Frenchman decides to break dance in the rain during the French Open 2014 Kids’ Day?

“Fly, Gael, FLY!”

And then he pulls off these shots just because he can.

Monfils hits a “smash” during his match against Tommy Haas in Halle 2013:

Normal passing shots are far too mainstream for Gael:

WARNING: The next video might be traumatizing.

But then he hits shots like this…

…or this…

…or this…

For the sake of entertainment, Monfils is more than welcome to keep the crazy winners coming through the rest of his career – but matches like today are proof that there is so much more to the World No. 18 than just trick shots and fancy footwork.