Monfils Wins the Alien Baby

Gael Monfils secured the most bizarre trophy in tennis Sunday, defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2 in the finals of the Open de Moselle in Metz. The victory of the #1 seed over the #2 seed ended a streak of six straight losses in finals for Monfils.

Monfils' second career title earns him the strangest prize in tennis: the Metz Alien Baby.  The Metz Alien Baby has not hatched all these years, but perhaps when it gazes through one of the peepholes in its egg and sees Gael's hair, it will recognize a relation and finally emerge.

That this is only Monfils' second career title reflects his incomparable inconsistency, which has been on display microcosmically this month.  He made the fourth round of the US Open, taking a set off Rafael Nadal, then couldn't even beat Thiemo de Bakker in Davis Cup.  Then he turns right around and wins his next tournament, his first title in over four years. 

There's no point in trying to decipher Monfils' patterns; it's better to just enjoy his good play when it comes around every once in a blue moon.