Mary Pierce’s countryman, Gael Monfils, has taken his name back from the Citi Open which is going to start from tomorrow in Washington. The reason behind it is believed to be his knee injury.

The injuries have made Monfils withdraw himself from quite a few tournaments in the ongoing season.

He had not taken part in a couple of events in the first quarter of the season because of his ankle problem and now, because of his knee problem, he has withdrawn from two more tournaments this month i.e. the Atlanta Open and the Citi Open.

Monfils has not played any match since his exit from the Wimbledon Championships. His journey at the All England Club had ended in the second round only as he had been knocked out by Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic.

Monfils had done alright in the French Open though qualifying for the Round of 8.

The Frenchman gave his all in the quarter finals as well at Roland Garros, but, his effort didn’t prove to be good enough for Andy Murray who managed to defeat him in 5 sets to make it to the semis.

The Citi Open is considered to be a fantastic warm up tournament ahead of the US Open. So, Monfils would be gutted to be missing it. But, he has got no option really. It would not have been wise on his part to risk the injury.

Monfils, who was in top 10 in the official ATP rankings in 2011, is presently ranked 21^st in the world. He is third among the French players behind Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Monfils hasn’t had a Grand Slam glory under his name so far. He had reached the Round of 4 in the 2008 French Open and that’s his best performance in a slam till date.

The topic which is being discussed in the British media quite frequently these days is the future of Andy Murray-Amelie Mauresmo relationship as player-coach. Whether the Scot should part ways with the 35-year old former French player or he should trust her and give her a long contract extension, everybody seems to have an opinion on this.

Some are saying that it’s unfair to blame Mauresmo for what has happened with Murray in the recent tournaments as she just hasn’t had enough time to work on the game of the player.

The other section believes that the she is just not good enough for the post that has been given to her.

Murray was not short of options when he was searching for a new coach, but, he opted for Mauresmo because he thought that the Frenchwoman would help him improve on the mental front. That’s what he had said in one of his interviews.

Let’s see how strong a person Mauresmo was mentally during her playing days. She played professional tennis for about 15 years and during that period; she just lifted two slam trophies. Now, the skills that she had had; it is not a good number at all. She should have won a lot more, but, she couldn’t and that’s due to her not so good temperament. She herself used to have confidence problem when she was active as a player. So, how did Murray trust her to get him better temperamentally? That’s an important question.

Mauresmo does have helped some players in the recent times, but, helping players and being a player’s permanent coach are two different things especially when the player is of the stature of Murray.

If Mauresmo continues, she can still have a successful stint with Murray. Nobody knows. But, the possibility of that happening is less, that’s for sure