The consultants are clustered around the tiny scrap of humanity, festooned with tubes and wires, inspecting her vital signs, which are displayed on the screen above her incubator. Although she grew rapidly at first, now, seven weeks on, progress has faltered. The specialists are worried and think it may be because she is fighting against the ventilator, using up calories she needs to grow. Her tiny chest pumps80 times a minute.
In the neonatal unit of a modern hospital, doctors operate at the limits of medicine, and their new-born patients cling to the edge of life. “I was panicking, because of the crowd and because my performance was not so good.” Soon, however, the crowd roared in response to Monfils’ stirring recovery as he proceeded to produce the winning shot in some breathtaking rallies.As he prepared to serve for the match, a spectator collapsed and had to be carried out of the arena on a stretcher After the delay, Monfils stepped up and served out to love Two years ago, Monfils’ serve was a weakness.

He studied Andy Roddick, the “Boca bullet”, and copied the American’s feet-together stance. The choice of red shoes emphasises the French youngster’s footwork, and his gold necklace swings with the rhythm of his movements.Born in Paris of French- Caribbean descent, Monfils is a product of the French Federation’s training programme. Recently he joined a multi-sports club owned by Arnaud Lagard?, a wealthy patron, who also sponsors the 18-year-old Richard Gasquet, who made his mark at Monte Carlo in 2002.. After an unpromising start to the year, Tsonga won 41 matches in six months, including a victory against Carlos Moya, the world No 6, in Beijing in September.”The turning point was to become a man after being a simple boy,” Tsonga said. Born in Le Mans, Tsonga has Congolese roots and is one of seven children. Facially he resembles a young Muhammad Ali.Monfils, the winner of the year’s first three Grand Slam junior titles (he defeated Britain’s Miles Kasiri in the final at Wimbledon), was almost blown off the court by Enqvist in the opening set on Monday night.

The 30-year-old from Stockholm won the first five games.”My mind wasn’t right,” Monfils said. As Tsonga said: “Normally in a junior tournament, if you are among the best, it’s not very difficult. On the men’s tour, when you play the first point of the match, it’s already a major fight. That’s the difference.”Tsonga hit 11 aces against the 30th-ranked Ancic and saved five out of six break points In the deciding set, he broke in the first and final games.

Tsonga, 19, edged past Mario Ancic, of Croatia, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. It was Ancic who ended Tim Henman’s run in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. As with most junior champions, Britain’s 17-year-old Andrew Murray will discover that it takes far more than impressive strokes to make a successful transition to the ATP Tour.The latest French aspirants, the lithe Gael Monfils and the sturdy Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, demonstrated their resilience and talent after being put under fire at the Paris Masters. Having fought through the qualifying tournament, both managed to absorb the loss of an opening set to overcome established opponents.Monfils, 18, defeated the experienced Thomas Enqvist, of Sweden, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, to earn the right to play Lleyton Hewitt, the Australian former world No 1. Jose Mourinho’s claim that Chelsea were incapable of winning both the Premiership and the Champions’ League was last night made to look a comment of misplaced, as well as uncommon, modesty from The Special One. Arsene Wenger may be embroiled in a feud with Sir Alex Ferguson but the Arsenal manager has revealed that Manchester United were an inspiration to him when he first arrived in England.
Wenger, who took over at Highbury in 1996, said that he “loved” the Manchester United team of that time, though since then the rivalry between the two clubs has become increasingly heated, culminating in last week’s post-match tunnel altercation at Old Trafford.Wenger said: “Manchester United impressed me during my early years in English football I loved the game they played with their offensive attitude.

I loved Borussia M?engladbach in the Seventies and Milan in the late Eighties when they had their big team. This season, I think Bar?ona could be interesting to watch because of the quality of players.”Wenger also called on Fifa and Uefa to take urgent action to tackle the worsening relationships between clubs and national teams “It is a problem that grows every year,” he said. “The football bodies have to sit together to discuss this before it becomes a major crisis. There is a unity in football today but if there was a split in the camps it would harm the game and Fifa and Uefa need to intervene before that happens.”With too many games the quality will deteriorate. We need to find a compromise that produces more attractive games for the national teams and more rest for the players.”Wenger also blasted players who make a living from football but who are not committed to the game.