“When I’m 100% fit, I have not defeated Djokovic ever, so now that I’m not 100% fit, my chances are very low” – Monfils

Frenchman Gael Monfils put a dampener on the much anticipated clash between himself and world No 1 Novak Djokovic at the Rolex Paris Masters after revealing that he was injured during his second round win on Wednesday.

Monfils rallied from a set down to beat compatriot Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 7-6, 6-2 but during his press conference he said that he was struggling with an injury.

“I’m quite frustrated, because I hurt myself. I’m going to have an x-ray, so we’ll see how my body will react.”

Monfils has played Djokovic 17 times on the tour but has never been able to beat the Serb as of yet on the pro tour, though he does have one win over Djokovic from the ITF Futures circuit way back in 2004. Two of those meetings have come at the Paris Masters itself – in the final in 2009 and the round of 16 in 2014.

The Frenchman, who is 0-3 against the top 10 this year but 33-83 all-time vs the top 10, said he knows his chances are very low given his lifetime record and his physical fitness at the moment.

“When I’m 100% fit, I have not defeated ever Djokovic so far, so now that I’m not 100% fit, my chances are very low. I will see what decision I will make. We’ll see. Right now I just want to do this check and make sure that it’s not more dangerous than it should be. I lost 17 times against him so far, you know. I try to outpace him, to make it difficult for him. Sometimes I have managed to have match points, but I never managed to find the right key. I need to find the key to upset him and to win.”

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