The top-seeded Djokovic hasn’t been tested at all in this Open – and actually hadn’t played much in the previous two rounds – but still breezed past Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. At the ensuing changeover, Tsonga was visited by a trainer and had his left leg taped below the knee. Djokovic broke three times in the set to go two sets up.
Advertisement
The recuperation time Djokovic had enjoyed since his weird display in the first round, thanks to a walkover and then Mikhail Youzhny’s retirement after six games in the third round, seemed to have paid off.
Edmund, whose match starts around 02:00 BST on Monday, said: “I’ll look to play aggressively as that’s my game”.
The eighth-seeded Spanish doubles team of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez defeated third-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to deny the Bryans their quest for a 17th Grand Slam title. “Midnight delight. And hopefully there will be another delight in a couple of days, but it’s going to be obviously tough against Jo, who has been playing some great tennis”.
Monfils beat Pouille in their only meeting – in five sets in the first round of the Australian Open in 2015.
Gael Monfils’ sizzling summer rolls on with a quarterfinal run at the U.S. Open. He has lost in four finals and three semifinals over the past decade. Williams has looked great thus far though, and on Saturday she won her 307th Grand Slam match, the most of any woman in tennis history.
After his run of four consecutive major championships – the first time a man had done that in almost 50 years – was capped by his initial French Open title, Djokovic was upset in the third round at Wimbledon.
All the questions Djokovic faced coming into the tournament, into this match – the “personal” problems that contributed to his early Wimbledon exit; his first-round defeat in Rio; withdrawing from Cincinnati; the wrist and arm injuries he struggled with in his unconvincing first-round win against Jerzy Janowicz; the lack of time on court here – were all being emphatically answered. The ninth-seeded Tsonga presents a huge step up in competition, though Djokovic owns a 15-6 advantage in the head-to-head series – including a victory in the 2008 Australian Open final for the Serb’s first major title. “I fought right up to the last ball”.
There was a delay to proceedings for the night session due to the five set epic between Lucas Pouille and Rafael Nadal in the day and as a result the players did not walk out until 22:10 local time. I’m feeling very good, to be honest. Definitely I want to win the point.
And that’s a scary thought for Monfils. Edmund got on the board by holding serve in the fifth and pushed Djokovic to deuce in the next game, but the 12-time major champion prevailed and won the second set 6-1.
A year ago, Vinci beat Williams in the semifinals, then lost to good friend Flavia Pennetta of Italy in the first Grand Slam final for each.
“I love watching Gael”.
Advertisement
Stuart Fraser of the Daily Mail said it took on the “feel of a first-round match” as the world’s No. 1 player advanced in Flushing Meadows, New York. “He’s very charismatic. Plays with a smile”.
