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“If he’d started at a young age, he could have been a world-class sprinter.” “In my mind, without a doubt, he’s the fastest guy out here,” American James Blake once remarked after losing to Monfils. By age 11, the prodigy was being filmed by television crews, and his athletic prowess became common knowledge across France.

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Monfils’ father, once a professional soccer player, handed his son a tennis racquet when Gael turned 2. Like Noah before him, Monfils is a firecracker, treating every cross-court trip like a 15-yard suicide sprint. It’s easy to see the resemblance of Noah’s game in Monfils’ when he propels his body across courts the feverish hyperactivity, the intense passion you can literally hear, the leave-it-all-on-the-court mentality. Noah was Monfils’ idol, a lodestar, even. The 28-year-old Monfils, now ranked 24th in the world, reminds fans of the masterful former French tennis superstar and the father of Chicago Bulls luminary Joakim Noah. If the kid plays like anyone the game has seen before, it would be Yannick Noah. Little did I know, however, that I would soon become infatuated with the larger-than-life entity known as “Sliderman.” (Monfils’ nickname was originally given to him because of how he slides from side-to-side across the tennis court with seemingly little effort.) The ball blurred and faded into the seats like it wasn’t meant to be seen, like Monfils was trying to hide it. An ostensibly no-name tennis player from Paris, Monfils smashed an unexpected forehand winner at an incomprehensible 120 miles-per-hour in the Australian Open.

With no regard for angles or direction, Parker was an illusionist desperately making sure we saw the trick for its face value.įour years later, I was introduced to my next French athlete: Gael Monfils. Running around the court, seemingly like an aimless bat out of hell, Parker was the furthest thing from adrift-he was purposeful, he was careful and he was a tactician. The first time I saw a French superstar athlete go apeshit was the 2003 NBA Finals.