The Lopezes, who are not related, move on to the semifinals to take on the victor of the match between Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and No. 12 seeds Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Alexander Peya of Austria.
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Lucas Pouille, who is ranked number 25 in the world, will meet fellow countryman Gael Mofils in the quarter-final.
Monfils and Pouille have have once met each other at the Australian Open in 2015, with that match going the distance and ending with Monfils winning in 5 sets.
Del Potro has been playing as well as ever lately, winning the silver in Rio and picking up recent victories over Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka.
The 11th-ranked Tsonga, a mainstay of the side since 2008, is expected to lead France in singles, leaving Noah with a tough choice between Pouille and Monfils.
Opponents keep crumbling, at least physically, against Djokovic at the Open. “You can be the best, but one match is enough [to lose]”. That he’s done it by playing only two complete matches because three opponents pulled out of the tournament with injuries is as odd as can be. “But again, I kept my composure”. Even at his favourite hunting ground at Roland Garros, he was not able to break Djokovic’s resilience in the last-eight clash.
Murray won the first of his three career majors at the US Open in 2012 and will be the favourite to make a fourth semi-final at the season’s last Grand Slam. “I think he was better than me today”. “Yes, it’s gifted, but it’s a lot of work”.
However, it will not come easy if the only previous meeting between Monfils and Pouille is anything to go by. Speed on his feet allowed him to gain a position of strength, often running around his backhand to whip bestial winners with his ferociously effective forehand.
If Pouille, a 22-year-old Frenchman looking for the biggest win of his life, had not had the nerve to convert his other three match points, perhaps he would fail to do it here, too.
“I dive because I want to win the point”. When you make the show, honestly, it’s to entertain, but it’s (also) to win.
After a hard start to his summer, missing Roland Garros with a viral infection and losing his first-round match at Wimbledon, Monfils has found his very best form here to win 15 consecutive sets. “If I do a trick shot and still kill it, you will say I’m a showman”, said Monfils, who admitted he enjoys practicing trick shots.
Nadal acknowledged his sloppy forehand had been “a big mistake”.
Small consolation for a great champion like Nadal, but something is better than nothing, no? How do you think about everything?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It’s a court I love”.
A week on and the 26-year-old Latvian is into the quarter finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, thanks to a 6-4, 7-5 victory over 13th seed Johanna Konta of Britain.
Kerber’s first U.S. Open semifinal since 2011 will come against an unseeded player, either two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki or Anastasija Sevastova. She was asked if it took anything away from her impressive tournament and displayed a keen sense of humor with her answer. “So I was ready for it”, said the Frenchman. “He’s one of the few players that I will definitely pay a ticket to watch”, Djokovic said. I think I understand different stuff.
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The 142nd-ranked Argentine was leading 6-3, 3-2 when the eighth-seeded Austrian quit with a knee injury.
