Tenth seed Monfils was his energetic, athletic self and invincible from the service line in a commanding win over 22-year-old Pouille, who was coming off three successive five-set wins including a fourth-round upset of 14-times slam victor Rafa Nadal.
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Afterward, Monfils wouldn’t divulge too much on what he might need to do to topple top seed Novak Djokovic should the two meet in the semis – Monfils will play the victor of the Djokovic-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga match – but Monfils did cite another elite athlete from a different hardcourt who has inspired him to elevate his game of tennis: Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. Between Djokovic and his 7th US Open final now stands only Gael Monfils, whom Novak defeated in all 12 matches they’ve played so far.
Pouille, who reached back-to-back Grand Slam quarter-finals, stood little chances in this match, coming after 3 straight 5-setters and an awesome win over Rafael Nadal just 2 days ago.
Pouille came out firing, pushing Nadal back with an array of deep groundstrokes and angled shots.
Fifty-two winners from Nadal – whose attacking response saw him come out a victor on 35 of 48 forays to the net – weren’t enough. “I played four matches, one in four sets, and then all three in five”, he said. I played the right point. “He has won so many matches for the last two months”, Pouille said about Monfils.
“Of course I was a bit exhausted today”, said Pouille, who also ousted 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain along the way. I had the right attitude but I needed something more. A gritty Nadal battled back to level the breaker at 6-all as the excitement within Arthur Ashe Stadium reached a breaking point.
The contest was expected to be a close one but the German, seeded second, proved too strong as she marched into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 7-5 triumph.
Back to the present tournament and another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, also advanced to the quarter-finals by beating the last American in the men’s draw, Jack Sock, in four sets.
Lucas Pouille failed to follow up his upset of Rafael Nadal with a victory.. “Putting aside my injuries, I’m playing good tennis”.
Displaying poise beyond his years, the 22-year-old Pouille took charge early and led two sets to one, then rebounded after sagging in the fourth set.
Nadal said that although the grand slam season is over, he still has goals.
The Spaniard’s early exit was the last thing fans wanted after Roger Federer had pulled out of the tournament due to an injury.
Sevastova became the first Latvian woman in 22 years to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal when she beat British 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5.
At 4-3 up, however, Nadal left the door open for his opponent and after levelling the set, it was Pouille who ended on the front foot with Nadal content to take the match into a final-set tie-break.
He played crisply in his win Sunday over 21-year-old Kyle Edmund, who was in his first Grand Slam round of 16, but it’s still unclear just how healthy or sharp Djokovic is.
Italian No. 7 seed Roberta Vinci, last year’s US Open runner-up, topped Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.
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Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, celebrates after winning her match against Madison Keys, of the United States, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY. “She’s a great player”, Kerber said.
