No One But Gael Monfils Could Have Pulled Off This Shot

Gael Monfils got wrecked in the opening set of his Madrid Open second-round match today, but he worked his way back into it. By the tail end of the second set, Monfils was feeling himself enough to test out this leaping ... forehand passing shot with all his weight hurtling in the opposite direction. Like most of Monfils’s best work this shot cannot be found in any reference book or old reel; it lives only in his avant-garde brain. Marton Fucsovics probably felt okay about that lob, too.

Look where he started that jump, look where he ended up, and look what he did with the tennis ball in between. He’s a gift. Monfils won, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.