into the main draw where he defeated 2nd seed Xavier Malisse in the first round for his first ever ATP win. He followed this up with another victory over Olivier Patience in the second round to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to fellow wildcard and junior and eventual finalist Richard Gasquet in straight sets. Three weeks later, he qualified for the 2004 Paris Masters, his first Masters 1000 tournament. There, he defeated fellow qualifier and former world number 4 Thomas Enqvist in the first round before losing in the second round to 2nd seed and world number 3 Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. Monfils ended 2004 with a year-end ranking of 239. A remarkable jump from his ranking of 925 at the start of the year. 2005: First ATP title After having turned pro the previous year, the young Frenchman then made one of the biggest moves in the top 50 from the previous season, climbing 200 ranking spots and capturing his first ATP title, whilst also reaching two additional finals. In the first six months, he won Challenger titles in Besançon and Tunis, defeating Christophe Rochus and Fabrice Santoro respectively. He would then reach the fourth round at the Miami Masters during this time (losing to Dominik Hrbatý), as well as the third round of Wimbledon, where he lost to Mario Ančić. Monfils compiled a 10–14 record in ATP level play and 12–1 in Challengers through July. In the last three months, he went 15–8, highlighted by his first ATP clay title at the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, defeating Florian Mayer in the final. Monfils then struggled with a 2–5 mark before reaching the final in two of the last three indoor tournaments of the season, both in his native country in Metz (losing to Ivan Ljubičić) and Lyon (losing to Andy Roddick). He went 11–4 in tie-breaks and 1–2 vs. Top 10 opponents, defeating world No. 10 Gastón Gaudio in his first match of the season in Doha. Monfils compiled records of 12–10 on hard courts, 6–7 on clay, 5–2 on carpet and 2–3 on grass. He finished the year as the No. 3 Frenchman, behind only world No. 16 Richard Gasquet and world No. 26 Sébastien Grosjean. 2006: Breaking Top 25 In his first tournament of 2006, Doha, he reached the final, but lost in two sets to world No. 1 Roger Federer. In a