Heading into the Asian swing is never a walk in the park. The tournaments arrive at the tail end of the season, after four Slams and nine grueling months on tour. By then, fatigue and injuries bite hard. Gael Monfils knows that struggle too well. The Frenchman, already out of luck this year after back-to-back early exits in the American swing, came hoping to turn things around. But fate, once again, had other ideas.

On Thursday, the 39-year-old faced Alexander Shevchenko at the Chengdu Open. He started sharp, edging a tight first set in a tiebreak. Then disaster struck in the second set. Monfils suddenly hopped backward in pain and dropped to the court. The physio rushed over as he limped to his bench. Determined, he tried to push through. But the pain only worsened. Fifteen minutes lat

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