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Gael Monfils Appoints Dominic Thiem’s Ex-Coach Ahead of Australian Open 2021

Published 01/24/2021, 7:11 AM EST

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The Australian Open 2021 is almost here and players are training quite hard for it. Some are even coming up with quite unique ideas and innovations ahead of the Grand Slam. Some are practicing indoors while others have hired new coaching staffs. Recently, World No.11 Gael Monfils announced his new coach.

Dominic Thiem‘s ex-coach, Gunter Bresnik, will now be serving as the coach for Gael Monfils. Bresnik has previously coached Boris Becker, Henri Leconte, and Stefan Koubek too. In total, he has coached 27 out of the top 100 players. However, it was Thiem with whom he spent the most time as a coach.

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Bresnik knew about the US Open 2020 winner since he was just 3-4 years old. The Austrian started coaching him by the time he reached the age of 8, and they both finally parted ways in 2019. He’ll now be working with Monfils and seems quite excited about his new job.

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“I’ve known Gaël for a long time,” said Bresnik in a recent interview. (Translated by Google Translate)

Before this, Liam Smith was the head coach of Monfils and was working with him since 2019. However, due to the Frenchman’s poor run lately, he might have decided to part ways with Smith.

WATCH: Elina Svitolina Innovatively Quarantines With Gael Monfils at Australian Open 2021 Bubble

Gael Monfils in 2020 and future challenges

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Monfils had a poor season in 2020. Although he won the Rotterdam Open 2020, he didn’t win a single match after tennis resumed post the long-break.

At the Australian Open 2020, he lost to the runner-up Dominic Thiem in the fourth round. The Frenchman managed to reach the semis of the Dubai Tennis Championships 2020 but lost to Novak Djokovic there. However, it was after this that his poor form started and continued till the end of the season.

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He played four tournaments after the long-break but could not win a single match. Then, at the Vienna Open 2020, he suffered an unfortunate injury that ended the season for him.

Monfils will certainly hope to make a convincing comeback at the Australian Open 2021. With Bresnik in his team right now, the World No.11 will definitely look forward to winning his maiden Grand Slam title in Melbourne this year.

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Written by:

Anshul Singh

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Anshul Singh is a tennis author at EssentiallySports, currently pursuing Journalism Honors from Delhi University. Having significant experience with content, Anshul has authored over 500 tennis articles. He has previously worked as a writer and an editor for DU Express, penning riveting articles on sports, politics, and culture.
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