Gael Monfils and Felix Auger-Aliassime angered one another during their Laver Cup clash in Canada on Friday night. The latter made light work of his opponent, winning their singles match in straight sets to continue Team World’s red-hot start at the tournament.
Auger-Aliassime prevailed 6-4 6-3 over two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist Monfils, but only after a verbal sparring session between the players. Issues first started to spring up when Team World’s Auger-Aliassime felt that his French opponent was taking too long between points.
Monfils twice attempted to taunt the Canadian at the net and also played up to the crowd during the hotly-contested match in Vancouver.
“If I don’t want to play a tournament, I don’t play it,” an angry Monfils told team-mates while sat at his bench after Auger-Aliassime complained. “They told me I can be free. I’m here to have fun.”
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Overhearing the rant from only yards away, a baffled Auger-Aliassime said to Ben Shelton: “What have the people that brought him here told him?”
After the match, Auger-Aliassime shed more light on the bust-up, explaining: “At the end of the day, the goal is to get through and win. I take all matches seriously and want to compete and win and have fun doing it.
“It’s competition. Things got a little bit heated in the moment with tension. I think the Laver Cup has the potential to be taken very seriously, not just now but also in the future. We’re just taking this seriously and things got heated for a couple of games. Gael is somebody I appreciate, so there’s no tension outside of what just happened.”
Monfils, ranked 128 places below his younger opponent, boasts a victory in their only head-to-head meeting on the ATP Tour, notching a straight-sets win in Rotterdam three years ago.
But his defeat on Friday continued a rapid start at the Laver Cup for Team World, who completed a clean sweep on day one. Shelton only needed two sets to defeat Arthur Fils, with Francisco Cerundolo also sweeping Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Meanwhile, the doubles pairing of Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe put Team Europe to the sword, although their clash with Andrey Rublev and Fils went the distance in captivating fashion.
