Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland reacts after beating Kei Nishikori of Japan on day twelve of the US Open 2016 tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre on September 9, 2016.
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Gael Monfils rejected accusations he failed to try his hardest against Novak Djokovic after he was beaten in a controversial semi-final at the US Open.
When he finally started cracking off blistering forehand winners and running down balls few players can reach to win the third set, the amplitude of his game only made his early tactics seem worse. In this tournament alone, he has played a staggering 23 sets and 237 games.
Defending champion Djokovic beat France’s Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach a seventh US Open final where he will be seeking a third major of the season and 13th of his career.
“That’s really disappointing, especially second set”, Nishikori said.
Even the closure of the roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium didn’t help Nishikori this time. By the end, he was hitting second serves in the low 80s miles per hour or below.
Djokovic went up 2-0 in the third, breaking on a double-fault by Monfils that drew boos.
“My fans have been suffering and celebrating with me from the very beginning of my career on the tennis courts and now I want to share with them all my daily life and what’s important to me – my values, my beliefs, and my habits – and also introduce to them all the wonderful people that are always next to me”. He lost five games in a row and 20 of 24 points in one stretch, and came up limping after the set’s final point.
“First question is, like, ‘You’re not competing?'”.
Gael Monfils has come to play, suddenly, while Novak Djokovic is getting his left shoulder massaged, as they head to a fourth set in their unusual U.S. Open semifinal.
“I think the crowd disliked his efforts”, said Djokovic. “I got a little bit of my instinct and flair”.
On Saturday, Monfils was leaning over and using his racket like a cane for support between points in the third and fourth sets. Djokovic provided added unexpected spice by requiring treatment on his left shoulder when he slipped down 2-5 and then saved a set point in the eighth game.
The second edition of the new Laver Cup exhibition event, pitting six men’s tennis players from Europe against six from the rest of the world, will be held in the United States in 2018.
Neither a date nor site has been chosen for 2018.
Pavic and Siegemund chose to pair up shortly before the deadline to sign up for the draw at Flushing Meadows and did not drop a set during the tournament.
That premeditated “great strategy” of hoping to lull the No. 1 seed and defending champion into complacency and mistakes, as Monfils described it later, worked briefly, yet did not prevent a two-set deficit.
“I was completely caught off-guard”, Djokovic acknowledged. “But I guess that was part of his tactics”.
Wawrinka and Nishikori played out another gruelling contest as the temperature and humidity remained brutal for the second semi-final, with the Swiss proving just the stronger.
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Ram won a silver medal in mixed doubles with Venus Williams at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last month.
