As it happens, Novak Djokovic was not upset by Monfils’s tactics.
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Nishikori, meanwhile, was denied a chance to improve on his runner-up to Marin Cilic in 2014.
Along came the third set, and Monfils was again broken early.
Monfils staved off three Djokovic break points in the fourth set’s second game, then got a backhand victor that barely hopped over the net – prompting Monfils to bend and kiss the top of the net – and the show was on. Djokovic wrapped up the second set 6-2 and at this point, all looked lost. “And after years (when) Serena was there, I think it’s a nice change”.
Monfils talking about Djokovic maybe being too good for him is evidenced by Nole’s 13-0 record against him all-time.
Djokovic had three set points while serving at 5-1, 40-love, and Monfils transitioned into something that at first blush appeared to be “tanking” losing 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. “And I try my best, ‘” Monfils said in his postmatch news conference.
“Sometimes you don’t have an answer to these kinds of questions”, Djokovic said.
Stan Wawrinka will face Novak Djokovic in the US Open final after the Swiss came from behind to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
“Specifically, before this Grand Slam, there were things that were happening with my health and my physical state that were, you know, making me a little bit skeptical about how the thing was going to go during the tournament”, he said. “You know, it was a great strategy, I think”. The Frenchman then went 0-40 down for the second consecutive service game.
Djokovic entered Friday having enjoyed the easiest path to a major semifinal in the almost half-century of the Open era: Three of his first five foes pulled out of because of injuries.
Monfils appeared to give up at times in Arthur Ashe Stadium as Djokovic won a peculiar contest 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2 to stand one victory away from a 13th major title.
Monfils was similarly slap-dash in the second set, by the end of which the crowd was getting restless and demanding better tennis. “Then somehow I had this small opportunity and I get it and then I think the crowd was much better”.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion, dipped in form in the third set, and had a trainer massage his left shoulder and, later, his right shoulder.
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, left, greets Gael Monfils, of France, after winning their semifinal match of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY.
And what prompted Djokovic to tear off his shirt? That only appeared to sting him into action though, as he rebounded to play his best tennis of the match to take the third.
Novak Djokovic has won a weird first set against Gael Monfils in their U.S. Open semifinal.
Neither a date nor site has been chosen for 2018. He moves passed Rafael Nadal and into second place for most final appearances in the open era.
So Djokovic, the 29-year-old, 12-time major-tournament champion from Serbia, is back in the Open title match for a seventh time and reached his seventh Grand Slam final in the past eight events.
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.
“I’m more than happy to talk with him”. But I guess that was part of his tactics. A back and forth net exchange between the pair ended as Monfils hit a lob that Djokovic managed to push back with a behind the back overhead smash, but the smash wasn’t strong enough and Monfils ripped a backhand down the line that caught the net and fortunately for him, still landed over the other side of the court to finally get the opening hold of the set.
They will split $150,000 in prize money for earning the title.
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After all of that, Djokovic will play Sunday for his third Grand Slam championship of the season. He is a former WTA Writer of the Year and the author of numerous books, including the classic “The Courts of Babylon” and the New York Times bestseller (with Pete Sampras), “A Champion’s Mind”. No. 10 Karolina Pliskova; Men’s Doubles Final: No. 4 Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares vs. Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
