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Gael Monfils almost plays greatest shot of all time at Australian Open

Liam Mannix

It might have been the greatest shot of all time ... had it gone in.

One guess at who tried it.

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Relentless Nadal downs Monfils

Despite some impressive shots from Gael Monfils, Rafael Nadal knocks out the entertaining sixth-seed Frenchman in four sets.

Frenchman Gael Monfils​ is one of the tennis circuit's great crowd-pleasers, simply because he will not stop trying the sublime and ridiculous.

First, in the middle of a rally against Alexandr Dolgopolov​ in the Australian Open's second round – at set point, no less – he decided to swap a regulation shot for a behind-the-back return.

Dolgopolov, stunned, slapped the return into the net.

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That's old news now, though. On Monday night, Monfils attempted to go one better in his fourth round clash with Spain's Rafael Nadal.

Nadal had taken the first set 6-3 and was racing away to a 5-3 lead in the second.

The Spaniard spooned a drop-shot over the net, forcing Monfils to race forward to return. Nadal followed with a long lob. Monfils thought he could chase it down.

He raced toward the ball, executed a perfect Djokovic-slide, and then... well, the shot itself is hard to describe. Monfils reached forward and slapped the ball diagonally behind him.

Did it go in? No, not even close. But damn Gael, it looked cool.

"That would have been the greatest get I've ever seen if that went in. Ever," Channel Seven commentator Jim Courier remarked upon watching the replays.

"The way that he hit that shot. Watch how he hit this shot in slow motion, how he hits this shot backwards."

Monfils would go on to lose the set anyway, going down 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-4 to Nadal, who next faces third-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic.

Not content with playing the greatest forced-error-shot of all time, Monfils also decided the Australian Open towels he had been provided with weren't good enough.

In the middle of the first set he approached the chair umpire to request white bath towels to replace the official Open-branded towels.

France's Gael Monfils wipes the sweat from his face during his fourth round match against Spain's Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)

Monfils's unofficial towel. Photo: Andy Brownbill

Lleyton Hewitt, commentating, said it wasn't unusual for players to ask for white towels rather than the branded tournament towels.

"Gael is asking for a white towel. Sometimes players prefer to use the white towel when they're out there," Hewitt said.

"Sometimes the fluff from the new tournament towels comes off."

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 23: Rafael Nadal of Spain changes his shirt in his fourth round match against Gael Monfils of France on day eight of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 23, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Nadal, content to use the correct towel Photo: Cameron Spencer

With AAP