Tennis
The star tennis player attacked the viewer right during the match. What pissed him off?
Gael Monfils / Photo: © IMAGO / Thierry Breton / imago-images.de / Global Look Press
Gael Monfils reacted harshly to unflattering remarks.
French tennis player Gael Monfils almost turned an ordinary exhibition match into an MMA fight. The athlete literally pounced on … an ordinary spectator!
What pissed off the eminent tennis player so much?
On shields with fists
Monfils played at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in Los Angeles. His next opponent was the American Francis Tiafoe. The stands were rooting for their own and in every way interfered with the Frenchman.
At some point, the situation crossed the boundaries of reason. One of the spectators sitting in the front row made obscene jokes and mocking remarks about Monfils. At first, the tennis player did not pay attention to such behavior, but then his patience ran out.
Another remark infuriated Monfils. The Frenchman ran to the stands, jumped onto the billboards and loomed menacingly over the offender. It seemed that the tennis player was about to pounce on the fan with his fists. He was clearly not ready for such attention from the star and leaned back. A few seconds later, Gael jumped off the shields and returned to the court.
The behavior of the tennis player surprised and frightened everyone present. Even TV commentators were shocked. At first they did not understand what was happening.
Similar to UFC
It became even more interesting when the match ended. Having beaten Tiafoe, Monfils again approached that very fan … and shook his hand! Moreover, Gael gave the viewer a small gift in the form of a wristband.
This picture stunned the already surprised audience. There were even more questions. But the main one remained unanswered: what was in Monfils’ head when he jumped onto the podium?
“A fight with the audience would have taken everything to a completely different level. It’s more like the UFC. Of course, a precedent has been set. Now I wonder how other players will react,” said one of the commentators on TV, quoted by the Daily Star.
DJ and unusual format
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown tournament, where Monfils scared the audience, has little to do with the usual tennis. In fact, this is a commercial format, the main goal of which is to earn money for players and organizers.
The main difference is the scoring system. There are no classic 15-30-40 here: winning the draw brings one point. The match consists of four periods, and when the score is 2:2, the “golden quarter” is assigned to two winning draws. The rules of the tournament are more like not tennis, but table tennis.
The atmosphere on the court also differs little from the usual. There is a DJ running next to the playground and the public is allowed to support their own. In addition, opponents can talk to each other during rallies.
The Ultimate Tennis Showdown format was invented by the famous coach Patrick Muratoglu – in different years he worked with Serena Williams, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, and now he leads Simona Halep to victories. The next UTS tournament will be held in September in Frankfurt am Main, followed by the final, the date and place of which have not yet been determined.
Eliminated in the semi-finals
Eight famous tennis players played in Los Angeles. In addition to Gael Monfils and Francis Tiafoe, Alexander Bublik, Diego Schwartzman, Taylor Fritz, Wu Yibin, Ben Shelton and Benoit Paire entered the court. The champion was the Chinese Yibin, who defeated the American Fritz in the final.
Monfils, in turn, lost to Fritz in the semi-finals. But with his behavior, he clearly attracted attention to himself and the entire tournament.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Tennis
Alexandra Oleynikova – Madison Keys. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
They will meet in the first round of the Australian Open on January 20. Alexandra Oleynikova (WTA 90) and Madison Keys (WTA 9).
The start of the event is scheduled for 02:30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Alexandra Oleynikova
The upcoming match is extremely important for the career of the Ukrainian football player; It will make its debut in the main draw of the Grand Slam tournaments. This success was due to a strong season in which the Ukrainian won three WTA 125 and four ITF tournaments. It is worth noting that all successes were on the field.
Oleynikova is the current winner of the tournament and will start against an overall strong opponent. The Ukrainian did not play in any other tournaments before making his debut at the Australian Open, so his current form is difficult to determine.
Madison Keys
The American athlete needs no introduction; He is ranked in the top 10 and is also the current winner of the Australian Open. Last season, Keys managed to win the first major title of his career and before that he won the title in Adelaide. Then there were still good performances, but such successes were not achieved.
Madison started this season with a tournament in Brisbane, where he beat compatriot Kessler 6:4, 6:3 and then neutral Schneider 6:7, 7:6, 7:6. In the quarter-finals, the American lost to the world’s first racket, Aryna Sabalenka, 3:6, 3:6. There was also a tournament in Adelaide where she failed to defend the title, Keys beating Czech Valentova 6:4, 6:1 and then losing to future finalist Victoria Mboko 4:6, 6:4, 2:6.
To guess
Of course, the tennis players have never met before and Keys is seen as the big favorite in the upcoming match. Judging by the bookmakers’ odds, it all comes down to the question of how much the Ukrainian will lose.
Oleynikova will have to play against a real monster of modern tennis, it is important not to get psychologically exhausted. Although everyone expects a crushing victory for the American, I bet on Alexandra’s success with a match handicap of +7.5 to 1.75, it will be difficult to fight for victory, but it is realistic to impose the fight.
Alexander Oleynikova01/20/2026 –
02:30
Madison Keys 1.75 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
January 20 Ukrainian tennis player Angelina Kalinina (WTA 179) will begin competing in the 2026 Australian Open main draws.
The Ukrainian player will play against the Chinese representative in the first round Wang Xinyu (WTA46). The match will start with the second start on Court No. 7 after Lumsden / Tang Qianhui – Sarah Errani / Jasmine Paolini. The estimated start time of the match is 03:30 Kyiv time.
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This will be the first head-to-head meeting between the rivals.
The winner of the match will face Rebekka Shramkova or Alena Ostapenko in the second round.
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Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
They will face each other in the first round of the Australian Open on January 20 Angelina Kalinina (WTA 178) – Wang Xinyu (WTA 43).
The match is scheduled to start at 03.30 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Angelina Kalinina
The Ukrainian athlete was out of the top 100 last season and will be out of action for six months. In December, Kalinina managed to take the cup in Limoges – there was a good squad at the WTA 125 tournament.
The athlete tried to play in Adelaide, but immediately lost to Hungarian Bondar in qualifying with scores of 4:6, 6:7. The first big game of the season also had to start with the qualifying matches; Here they managed to beat Garland from Taiwan 7:5, 6:2, Koevermans from the Netherlands 7:6, 6:0 and in the final they beat Chwalinska from Poland 5:7, 6:2, 6:1.
A good game in qualifying clearly boosted Kalinina’s confidence; The Ukrainian athlete reached the third round at the Australian Open the most, and he should try to break his personal record.
Wang Xinyu
The Chinese athlete must be familiar to Ukrainian tennis fans because it was Wang who recently played in the final of the tournament in Auckland, where she lost to Elina Svitolina 3:6, 6:7. Although he could not win the title, the tennis player can definitely be satisfied with his performance, because he beat rivals such as American McNally – 2:6, 6:3, 7:5, Mexican Sarazua – 7:5, 6:4, British Jones – 6:4, 4:3, and Francesca withdrew. In the semi-final, a tough victory was achieved against Eala from the Philippines, 5:7, 7:5, 6:4.
There was also a tournament in Hobart, where the Chinese woman started with a 6:2, 6:3 victory over Australian Gibson, followed by a 1:6, 5:7 defeat by Poland’s Linette. Wang never got past the second round at the Australian majors.
To guess
Statistics show that the athletes have never played each other, and on paper the Chinese woman is a slight favourite. There is a meeting of two powerful middle peasants, so we can expect an approximately equal struggle.
It is important for tennis players to play to their strengths. I think such a match could be extended, so I predict the total over 20.5 matches will be 1.74.
Angelina Kalinina01/20/2026 –
03:30
Wang Xinyu 1.74 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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