Djokovic will take on either Swiss third seed Stan Wawrinka or sixth-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori in Sunday’s final in his bid to become the first back-to-back victor at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer won four straight from 2004.
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RESULTS (Men’s Semifinals): No. 1 Novak Djokovic reached his sixth Grand Slam final in the last seven tournaments, defeating No. 10 Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
“We’ve had many big memories together, especially in grand slams, so it’s going to be an exciting match”, said Wawrinka, who is playing his first USA final and beat Djokovic on the way to his slam titles at the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French.
Djokovic took the match 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2 as the crowd fell in and out of love with the erratic play of Monfils.
Novak Djokovic reached the US Open final Friday and marked the occasion by announcing he will be the subject of a documentary series about his life.
“I’m really excited. I watched the final so many times here”.
The 29-year-old Serbian managed to beat Gael Monfils in the first semi-final, while the Swiss star registered a win over Kei Nishikori.
Though the Shimane native grabbed an early lead with aggressive play, charging the net and controlling rallies to go up a set and a break, he failed to build on the advantage.
Martin Blackman, the head of USTA player development, said the Orlando facility will allow the USTA to gather the best junior players from around the country. It has also had the shock factor, best exemplified by the 2015 French Open final, in which Wawrinka, in a state of grace, stopped Djokovic’s considerable momentum.
“When the guy is too good, playing clean and you’re playing not that good you need to change”, explained Monfils with clear logic.
This was a feast for the fickle: If you didn’t like what you were seeing at the U.S. Open in the men’s semifinals, just wait a few minutes and let nature take its course.
“Thankfully it’s behind me, so I don’t have any concerns”, said Djokovic, who has defeated Wawrinka twice in NY, in the round of 16 in 2012 and from two sets to one down in the 2013 semi-finals. “I think also he was stepping up a little more from the second set. That’s what I’m trying to do”, Wawrinka said. “And in Grand Slams is where I want to play my best tennis, is where I want to be the better player, always find a way to find my game and to put everything together”.
Despite his run to a seventh US Open final, it has not been plain sailing for the world number one.
The Frenchman, who turned 30 last week, will be playing in the second Grand Slam semi-final of his career; the other was a loss at the 2008 French Open.
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“Stan is a big match player”, Djokovic said when asked about the Swiss, who has won his last 10 finals. So that’s what I’m focusing (on) here: “to fight, to suffer, to accept to suffer, to accept that the player in front of me (is) playing better”, he explained.
