But Djokovic emerged to win.
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Wawrinka recovered from a slow start to secure a 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-2 triumph against the Japanese sixth seed Nishikori in NY.
Roger Federer, whose management company TEAM8 is behind the Laver Cup, and Rafael Nadal have said they will participate next year, when Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe will be the captains of the two squads.
Kerber will be the new No.1 women’s player when the WTA releases next week’s rankings on Monday – as Serena Williams was defeated in the first semifinal of the US Open.
Sure, he’s suffered setbacks, including a third-round upset to Sam Querrey at Wimbledon. He played some good tennis today. Djokovic is the leading man on this tour, and everybody else is part of the supporting cast. A player who didn’t make his first Grand Slam semifinal until age 28 will now seek his third major title in as many years. This is the most tarnished Djokovic has ever looked on the big stage in recent years.
Djokovic needed just one as he sealed his the victory, but it may be the rest that needs most of all after a draining battle in the Mahattan heat. But it’s not just aging adversaries whom Djokovic lords over. 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. In the fourth, both men tried to buy time between points on a steamy day with the temperature reaching 90 degrees and humidity topping 50 percent.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC ripped open his shirt like the Incredible Hulk after destroying Gael Monfils to reach the final of the US Open.
Djokovic, in his 10th straight NY semi, should have won in half the time against the world No12, who was appearing here for the first time at this level.
Although he looked nowhere near his best, Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set as Monfils looked in disgusting form. Monfils opened his next service game after the timeout with his tenth and eleventh double faults of the match. On the ESPN broadcast, John McEnroe blasted Monfils for what he saw as a lack of professionalism.
Monfils denied any plans of tanking.
“This Grand Slam is very unique for me”, acknowledged Djokovic, who is in the U.S. Open semifinals for the 10th consecutive year.
“Sometimes you don’t have an answer to these kinds of questions”, Djokovic said. “I already feel better”. But the guy is too good. “Definitely, I try to get in his head, try to create something new for him to see”. As Djokovic served out the set to love, Monfils hopped and skipped to his chair, as if on blistered feet.
A disgusted Djokovic, who channeled Andrew Ilie tearing at the neck of his white shirt, played the final point with the shredded shirt before completely tearing it off and taking more treatment. Djokovic, a two-time U.S. Open champion, will defend his title Sunday against No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.
It’s hard to tell if the ATP is witnessing the middle or near end of the Djokovic era. He developed a sore left wrist right before the start of the Rio Olympics in early August, losing in the first round there, then skipping the Cincinnati Masters.
The World No 1 has never had an easier route in a Grand Slam, having played only two full matches before the last four clash with the Frenchman – and it seeed like another stroll for Djokjovic in the first two sets, against the Frenchman whose mind and game was all over the place.
The result was a weird semifinal Grand Slam match that had most pundits and commentators up in arms and fuming, while Monfils argued that his only crime was daring to depart from convention and doing everything in his power to reverse his dismal 0-12 record against Djokovic.
Wawrinka was up a break in that set, but Nishikori broke right before the rain delay.
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Nishikori, coming off his own five-set quarter-final triumph over world number two Andy Murray, seized the initiative with a near flawless first set.
