Gael Monfils vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime, backstory on Laver Cup spat
Felix Auger-Aliassime explains spat with Gael Monfils
More than the final result of the Laver Cup match between Gael Monfils and Felix Auger-Aliassime, which saw the latter give a point to Team World (up 4-0, after the first day of matches, over Team Europe), the fact that the two athletes bickered on several occasions, disagreeing over the timing of the resumption of play, made the news.
In particular, the Canadian blamed Monfils for a certain slowness in getting back into position for serve, complaining about it to the person concerned. The Frenchman reacted and raised the issue again to his staff, without mincing words.
During one of the break moments, Monfils said, aloud: "They called me to come and play telling me I could feel free…. I am here to have fun". Words that reached the ears of Auger-Aliassime, who told the Team World staff: "But what did the people who brought him here tell him?".
On the sidelines of the match day in Vancouver, the winner then clarified what he said directly to Monfils: "For me the Laver Cup è important, I take every match seriously and I simply wanted to make sure that on the other side the intention was the same. The atmosphere got a little heated but with Gael I don't have any problems, it was just a moment of tension".
