In his first five rounds he did not face an opponent inside the top 45 while he had to save a match point to beat Britain’s Dan Evans in the third round. But he started to find his form in a quarterfinal victory over 2009 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro. By the end, he was hitting second serves in the high 70s.
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Wawrinka, who was in the US Open semis for the third time in 4 years, was delighted to finally make it to the final.
Wawrinka won the 2014 Australian Open and the 2015 French Open. That’s certainly been the case this year at Flushing Meadows.
Murray served out that set at love and seemed to be in good shape, up two sets to one.
Nishikori, who looked worn out, fell behind 3-1 in the third set but rallied to bring it back on serve at 4-3 and appeared to gain a respite when rain forced a delay to shut the roof.
Kei Nishikori did the hard work by knocking world number two Andy Murray out of the US Open but blunting the free swinging backhand of Stan Wawrinka was a step too far.
In the second set, there was more of the same from Monfils. Nope. In a blink, Monfils suddenly came to life, playing his athletic best.
Sept 9, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland reacts after beating Kei Nishikori o … Nishikori was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2014.
Djokovic, too, wasn’t enamored with some of Monfils’ actions.
Afterward, Monfils said he was “very sad” about McEnroe’s remarks and hoped to talk to him about it.
“I have a great partner”.
“I know how to try to play the best, and to play the best sometimes is to improve”, said Monfils, who on several occasions hunched over in pain from the brutal conditions and also ordered a Coca-Cola during the match. “Because the first question is like, ‘You’re not competing”. “I try to win”.
On ESPN’s telecast, John McEnroe blasted the 10th-seeded Frenchman for lack of effort; the Arthur Ashe Stadium jeered him. At times that he was maybe behaving a little bit for some terms and judgments unacceptable, but, again, I guess that was part of his tactics, ‘ he stated.
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.
The world No 1 had enjoyed an easy passage to the last four with three of his first five opponents withdrawing.
In what was one of the more weird encounters to unfold on a grand slam court, Monfils was showered with boos one set and cheers the next before exiting Arthur Stadium to a mixture of both.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot to Gael Monfils of France during their mens singles semifinal match on day 12 of the 2016 US Open. Djokovic ripped his shirt down the middle in a fit of anger toward the end of the set.
Monfils won three games in a row, before eventually dropping a set for the first time all tournament.
Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead Friday, with Monfils looking extremely tight and struggling with double-faults.
Indeed, it appeared Monfils was just trying to tank to bring on the second set, but an unnerved Djokovic kept overhitting the softballs, committing a multitude of errors. He came back to win the third set with some inspired play, using his elite speed to thwart Djokovic’s drop shots and frustrate the Serbian superstar.
“It’s not only one way to play tennis, ” Monfils said, whose showman reputation has come under attack before by the tennis elite.
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Coco Vandeweghe, of the United States, top left, returns a shot alongside partner Rajeev Ram, of the United States, to Laura Siegemund, of Germany, and Mate Pavic, of Croatia during the mixed doubles semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY.
