WATCH: Gael Monfils’ sweet message to his daughter Skai after upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas

Shahida Jacobs
Gael Monfils focused
A happy Gael Monfils

Gael Monfils continued his revival as he took out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of the Canadian Open and he celebrated with a lovely message to his daughter Skai.

Following his injury woes in 2022, Monfils found himself at No 394 in the ATP Rankings just over two months ago. However, his progress has been steady as he is up to No 276 after reaching the last 16 at the Citi DC Open last week.

And he is set to get another boost when the rankings are updated again next week after reaching the third round in Toronto with a brilliant display against fourth seed Tsitispas.

What made his win even more impressive was the fact that the Greek is fresh from a title run at Los Cabos.

“I knew that Stef had a lot of confidence,” the Frenchman said after the match. “He would try to go for his shots. I tried to put a lot of balls in, tried to hit quite heavy and not let him dictate too much. I think I did it well.”

When all was said and done, Monfils had a sweet message to his daughter as he wrote “Gnite Skai” on the camera lens.

After saving a break point in game two, Monfils took charge in game five as he broke the Tsitispas serve and eventually served the opening set out to love.

He continued that momentum early in the second set with a break in game one and he never relinquished that advantage as he wrapped up the win on his second match point.

“It’s always the same. Stay very calm in the head and go for a simple choice,” Monfils, who reached the semi-finals in Canada back in 2016 and 2019, said after closing out the match.

“Maybe I was too simple on the first match point [today] because I could maybe have unleashed one forehand more, but he did it before me. To be honest, I just tried to be cool and try to do what I did during the match. No panic, in a way.”

Former world No 6 Monfils will face lucky loser Aleksander Vukic for a place in the quarter-final after the Australian defeated Sebastian Korda 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) while either seventh seed Jannik Sinner or Andy Murray could await in the last eight.

READ MORE: WATCH: Gael Monfils gets a kiss as Elina Svitolina explains why they are not travelling with daughter Skai

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