France’s Gael Monfils revealed, on Friday, that he had been racially abused on Instagram following his early exit at the Italian Open in Rome. Monfils is one of my absolute favourite players, he's always so much fun to watch and seems like a lovely person on top of that. Gael obviously has to put up with more because of his race. : @naomiosaka (IG) pic.twitter.com/6TSWhbY8u2, “The dougie. Wow I just checked and it really bummed me out. If I was an athlete I’d just block the comment section. I learned when I was nine. }. It is frustrating to see any player you like play less than what you know they can, but no one is entitled to win, and to abuse a player because they lost is so short of what people should be. “I can play piano. Nick Kyrgios is not bad at all. Three players popped into his mind when Osaka asked who on the ATP Tour is quickest, besides Monfils himself. The same shit happens here in Australia with our football players, sickening. Osaka asked the Frenchman if he is one of the best or even the best dancer on the ATP Tour. .tourney-details.action-buttons a[href*="560/live-scores"] { Fifth seed Monfils, who had received a bye into the second round, lost 6-2, 6-4 to Dominik Koepfer, on Thursday, after which he received the abusive comments as personal messages, with one fan calling him a “stupid black monkey” and “slave”. “The rhythm is good. Let's bombard his dm with all the love messages!! I'm not going to speak on this specific instance, but if you go to an account and it looks like they just retweet/repost inflammatory shit and have a suspicious amount of likes/retweets...then yes they are just adding gasoline to fire. a[href*="540/draws?matchType=qualifier"]{ I'm going to follow Monfils and defend him in his comments. A few other players have come forward to show the kind of messages/comments they get from betters after a loss, and it’s always horrific. Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has started a series of Instagram Live interviews with professional tennis players. Gaël Monfils a posté dans sa story Instagram, des messages très insultants, qu’il aurait vraisemblablement reçus dans la nuit suivant sa défaite aux Masters 1000 de Rome. .is-mobile .scores-daily-schedule-content td.day-table-seed, .scores-results-content td.day-table-seed { The Italian Open is a tune-up tournament for the French Open which begins on Sept. 27 at Roland Garros. width: 32px; Monfils, who early on said his favourite Avengers super hero is Black Panther, walked fans over to a bookcase where he had countless comic books in plastic. Press J to jump to the feed. On Friday when she went live, the former World No. Imagine losing bets and deciding that writing racial slurs to the player is the right idea... these people are such idiots. He can dance. Not that you can defend or excuse racism...but being racist with Monfils?! The quarantine has given Gael and Elina to put out a lot of content for their fans on social media. display: none !important; “I’m crazy about the Avengers, so it’s funny,” Monfils said. I just started following him a few months ago, but holy shit am I blown away by how many racist and hateful messages he receives. Hateful messages from sore losers are just the norm unfortunately, I think they all get those. (Besides @Gael_Monfils, of course) The Frenchman recalled his most memorable match, a 3-6, 6-7(3) loss against Lleyton Hewitt at the 2004 Rolex Paris Masters. Monfils is well-known for his athleticism on the court, but he also has plenty of respect for his opponents. Thinking these are all legit racists is very saddening but I have to believe some if not all are just Russian bots trying to sadden us and make us live in despair. Old school, but I love the dougie,” Monfils said. The vibes when you lean to the left, lean to the right. It happens every match as well, it's so obvious who lost a bet on the match. Naomi Osaka interviewed Gael Monfils on Instagram Live Friday. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I just started following him a few months ago, but holy shit am I blown away by how many racist and hateful messages he receives. 13 At Roland Garros, The Great Equaliser At Roland Garros: The Weather. “You don’t deserve your top 10 ranking,” one fan said. 1 admitted her interviewee was one of her top three favourite players: Gael Monfils. There were maybe 10 total, and about 3 or 4 with racial slurs. Last month the duo, Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina announced about engaging in a documentary film and the works related to it had already begun. float: left; I’m glad he put it out there for everyone to see. The 33-year-old tried learning Japanese, but admitted it was, “really tough”. He’s a bit shy. “I’m a pretty open guy,” Monfils said. I'm actually a little embarrassed that I was so surprised, but damn, that must be difficult to take the high road constantly. .atp-nav-list>.atp-nav-item>a { Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, Instagram. Looks like he’s taken it off his story. Apart from that, they denote $100 to the Odessa Children’s Hospital in Ukraine for every single ace they hit during their matches. I love the dougie. But still, stop being jerks. It's baffling. Didn't RBA complain about this a while ago? © Copyright 1994 - 2020 ATP Tour, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Of course those cowards hide behind fake names and burner accounts. } Know More – Gael Monfils And Elina Svitolina Answer Crazy Questions On Instagram. No part of this site may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way or by any means (including photocopying, recording or storing it in any medium by electronic means), without the written permission of ATP Tour, Inc.. Former World No.