Gael Monfils was forced to pause his match and run off court in Dubai to throw up. The 37-year-old was serving early in the second set against Ugo Humbert when he abandoned the game after one point, rushing over to the umpire to inform him that he needed a place to vomit.
Monfils was facing Humbert for the second time in as many weeks after defeating the world No. 18 in Doha. It looked as though he was going to cruise through to another victory against his young countryman after taking the first set 6-4 in Dubai on Tuesday.
But trouble suddenly struck for the former world No. 6 as he started to feel unwell early in the second set. Stepping up to serve at 0-1, Monfils could be seen taking deep breaths before he won the opening point to go 15-0 up. But he couldn’t continue, suddenly rushing to his bench and doubling over as he told the chair official that he needed to be sick.
“If he’s cramping perhaps, the stomach is cramping. That can be nasty, can’t it?” Chris Dennis said on commentary. Arvind Parmar added: “Looks like he’s struggling, doesn’t he? I think he might need to throw up here.”
And his suspicions were confirmed as umpire Pierre Bacchi was heard speaking over the radio, saying: “He needs to vomit, where he can go?” Monfils initially asked whether he could throw up in a bin on the court before a medic came to escort him off the court.
“Here we go, needs must. It can happen,” Dennis said on commentary. “We feel for Monfils and this is perhaps not a bad thing for Humbert. Scoreline he’s a set down, just a little break would do him good. A chance to reset and chat with his coach.”
After a delay in play, Monfils received a round of applause when he returned to the court. And it was as if nothing had ever happened as he easily held to love and continued playing as normal.
Monfils couldn’t keep the No. 5 seed at bay, however, as Humbert finally earned his first break of the match to take a 4-2 lead. The 25-year-old had a triple break point on Monfils’ serve in the first set but couldn’t take advantage and it was the world No. 54 who earned a break of his own, eventually taking the first set in 40 minutes.
37-year-old Monfils was looking to build on his positive week in Doha, where he defeated Humbert en route to the semi-final. But he went on to lose in three sets as the world No. 18 got revenge for last week’s defeat with a 4-6 6-3 6-3 comeback victory. Humbert will now face Andy Murray.
