Get Me Gael Monfils

On Sunday, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic defeated France's Gael Monfils in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final here in Washington DC. However, the point of this post has nothing to do with any tennis action on the court.

The video below is for the song Hello by Martin Solveig & Dragonette. While it is likely that you've never heard of Martin Solveig and/or Dragonette, there's a good chance that you've heard this catchy song.



You may have noticed that this cool video features cameo appearances by #1-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic and the aforementioned Gael Monfils. This brings the obvious question: Why Gael Monfils? I can just see the casting director going through the World Tennis rankings and being ecstatic at landing Djokovic to be part of the video. Sure, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal said no, but there are other top players, right? England's Andy Murray passed and Andy Roddick is busy being married to Brooklyn Decker, so now there's a little concern.



The producer inquired about contacting Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi but the director wants a current male player. Uh oh. Maybe 5th-ranked Robin Soderling who reached the French Open finals twice would be interested. No he has another engagement.

Then the casting director had a brilliant idea to get the injury-prone 7th ranked player in the world, Gael Monfils. He's almost a household name based on his semifinal appearance in the 2008 French Open. Monfils was shocked by the invitation, but quickly accepted.