January 7, 2006: Roger Federer tops Gael Monfils to defend crown in Doha
The Swiss kicked off the campaign with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ivo Minar in 64 minutes despite facing seven break points and he had to work hard against the magician Fabrice Santoro, never giving him a break chance but failing to convert any of six break chances in a 7-6, 7-6 win for the place in the quarters.
There, Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-3 to enter the last four and he dominated over Tommy Haas for the place in the title match. The young Frenchman Gael Monfils (hadnt lost a set before the final) stood between Roger Federer and the crown and the world no.
1 earned a 6-3, 7-6 triumph in an hour and 55 minutes to defend the title and kick off the season in the best possible way. Gael served at only 49% but he did his best to stay in touch and score a huge surprise, fighting well in set number two before coming short in a tight tie break.
Roger suffered two breaks and he had the opportunity to seal the deal much earlier, creating 15 break points but converting only three, spraying more unforced errors than Gael but also forcing more mistakes from his opponent to erase that deficit.
Nothing could separate them in the mid-range rallies but Federer had the edge in the shortest points up to four strokes and also in the longest exchanges, which was important for an overall win against a quick and persistent rival who covered every part of the court with the same efficiency.
The Frenchman moved in front in the very first game after a terrible forehand from Roger and he saved a break point to cement the lead in game two following another forehand mistake from the defending champion. Monfils had to dig deep even hard to keep his serve intact in game four, repelling four break chances before he moved 3-1 up with a service winner, reaching another deuce on the return in the following game, using the fact that Roger still couldnt find his range.
Federer held in that fifth game and he broke back at love in game six when Gael sent a backhand long. That gave him a huge momentum and he finally held at love in game seven for his first lead before another break that pushed him 5-3 up.
Serving for the set, Roger held at 15 with a forehand winner, taking the opener 6-3 and marching towards the finish line when Monfils hit a double fault at the start of the second set to suffer the third straight break. Out of sudden, Gael broke back in the very next game to end his drought, surviving a tough third game to gain the lead and fending off more break points at 2-2 to stay on the positive side of the scoreboard.
The same happened next time he served, Roger was passing his service games much easier than his rival but he couldnt find the way to score the crucial break before the set went into a tie break where the pressure was on Monfils.
He scored a mini-break in the third point following a poor forehand from Roger and he forged a 5-3 lead thanks to a brilliant forehand down the line winner that pushed him closer to the set. Federer went for an all-or-nothing forehand in the following point to pull the mini-break back, firing two winners to create the match point and converting it with a forehand return winner to rattle off four straight points and celebrate the title.
