World number one and defending champion Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in a weird semi-final that saw 10th-seeded Monfils roundly booed and accused of not trying.
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Through the first five service games of Friday’s U.S. Open semifinal, Gael Monfils looked like he didn’t belong on the same planet as Novak Djokovic – let alone the same tennis court.
World number one and defending champion Djokovic prevailed 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in a weird semi-final that saw 10th-seeded Monfils roundly booed and accused of not trying.
So, with nothing to lose at that point, Monfils made a decision to change tactics.
But that all turned once the match began. Monfils later admitted it was. With Djokovic in possession of three more set points while serving at 5-1, 40-love, Monfils transitioned into something that might have appeared to be an attempt to “tank” – in other words, lose on objective, for who knows what reason – but which he explained afterward was the tennis equivalent of Muhammad Ali’s boxing “rope-a-dope”, absorbing someone else’s best shots and pretending to not be interested in attacking.
“Definitely I try to get in his head, try to create something new for him”. “Just embrace that the guy is too good for me and I tried to switch strategy”.
With Andy Murray on a plane back to Scotland following defeat, Djokovic is now strong favourite to win his third title in NY, particularly as he boasts a flawless record against Monfils.
At one point, it got so bad that the crowd (who had been relentlessly rallying Monfils on all night) started to “boo” the Frenchman. I just have to change. “But this tops everything”. Even Sigmund Freud above couldn’t figure this out.
John McEnroe, a master of playing tactical cards and mental tricks during his prime, called the strategy “bordering on unprofessional” on ESPN. “Now I know him a little bit better”, Siegemund said during the trophy ceremony. There were times when it seemed as if the champion might punch himself out. So far it’s very hard to remember a match where he wasn’t hitting the ball clean, maybe one or two a year. I think it worked. “First question is, like, ‘You’re not competing?’ …”
“F***, yes, I’m competing”, raged Monfils.
Too good is what Djokovic has been the past two years.
“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 awesome people that are always next to me”.
Eventually, the conversation was brought around to McEnroe’s comments, which led to a very lengthy response from Monfils in which he expressed his disappointment for the way McEnroe talked about him. “I’m happy where I am now, so I gonna prepare great for my match”, Monfils was quoted as saying by US Open’s official site. I had phases when I was pissed off, phases when I was entertained by what he’s doing, and phases where I was upset with myself for allowing him to disturb my game and my rhythm. But I guess I’m working, I’m learning.
“Kei is a tough player and he played well from the beginning”, said Wawrinka.
“The way I bounce back from that is I take another T-shirt from my bag and I change then I feel better”.
Novak Djokovic usually has all the answers on the court, but he didn’t know what to say soon after his semi-final win over Gael Monfils at the US Open on Saturday morning (AEST). Monfils, now 0-13 against Djokovic, spent most of his news conference defending his unusual approach and said he knew beforehand he might try it. “Just very glad to overcome that”.
“But it shouldn’t be my concern”. I hoped and believed that as I progressed in the tournament that things would get better, which they did.
Djokovic now extended his head-to-head series over Monfils to 13-0. He had a set point at 5-3, failed to take and had another meltdown, going 0-40 down on his own serve before clawing it back to take as insane a set of tennis as he’s ever played.
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“I have done it because I want to win”.
