Check out my latest book, Tennis Players as Works of Art, now available on Amazon. Called “madly ambitious” and named one its 5 featured books of 2024 in the category of Art/Imagination/Creativity by Publisher’s Weekly Booklife, Tennis Players as Works of Art has also been named “One of the Best Books we Read in 2024” (Independent Book Review) and “Book of the Year” (Inside Tennis Magazine.)
If you could see the moment after in the painting above: Monfils hitting the ground running to cover the next shot, which his opponent misses.
If you watch the first two shots in the video below from Tennis TV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWMQJEf3pL8
First Shot: The long sprint forward sudden scissors kick leap high in the air while preparing to smack a forehand at his opponent, Sam Querry, who turns and offers his backside, while Monfils, too gentle to hit anyone, softens every fiber in his body and massages a soft looping forehand gently down the line a “thoroughly ridiculous and unnecessary shot and yet it delights.”
Second Shot: Monfils sprinting back for a lob volley over his head while improvising a wild swing and miss at the ball—like a juke in basketball, “you have to love his inventiveness”– then suddenly smacking a ripper tweener back down the line for a winner from 10 feet behind the court. “It’s a Monfils’ special.”
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One reply on “Gael Monfils: Improv and the Human Highlight Reel”
Beautiful painting!