Monfils shrugs off injury for Stockholm top seeding
Date published :
16 Oct 2011 - 22:35:38
France's Gael Monfils has shrugged off a knee injury scare in time to take top seeding at the Stockholm Open begins on Monday.
The flamboyant world number 10 looked to be out for weeks when he lost a gruelling semi-final to American Donald Young in Bangkok a fortnight ago, then hurried to Paris for a scan on the troublesome knee which has bothered him on and off this season.
But with an unexpected positive result to the tests, Monfils feels ready to make a run through to the end of the season in four weeks, opening with a bye at the Kungligahallen where Juan Martin del Potro and Stanislas Wawrinka are the second and third seeds.
Monfils will be making his Stockholm debut and faces a second-round start against the winner from a qualifier and Australian teenage wildcard Bernard Tomic, a Wimbledon semi-finalist.
Monfils is still looking for his first ATP title of the season and will hope to get it at the event which Roger Federer won a year ago.
Second seed Del Potro is building up to Argentina's Davis Cup final with Spain in Seville from December 2-4, with teammate David Nalbandian also entered in the Swedish capital.
Del Potro's first match in the second round will come against either two-time champion James Blake of the US or Belgian Olivier Rochus.
Third seed Wawrinka arrived from the Shanghai Masters where he lost to Andy Murray.
The Swiss reached the quarter-finals here a year ago, losing to Federer.
Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela takes the fourth seeding, ahead of South African Kevin Anderson. Seeded sixth is Canadian Milos Raonic, another tournament debutant.
The 20-year-old is playing in his third event since returning from July 5 hip surgery and lost in Shanghai in the second round to Spaniard David Ferrer.
German Tommy Haas was given a wild card while 2009 winner Marcos Baghdatis is back with a first-round match against Raonic.
Unseeded two-time finalist Jarkko Nieminen of Finland plays a qualifier with the winner to play Wawrinka.
Missing from the field is Swede Robin Soderling, stil battling a case of glandular fever. The 2003 and 2008 home finalist has not played since winning the Swedish Open in mid-July.
