Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, hits a return shot to Kyle Edmund, of Britain, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY.
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At this year’s U.S. Open, sun is rain, fast is slow, out is in.
Gael Monfils (pic) returns a shot to Lucas Pouille on day nine of the 2016 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Having played three straight five-setters coming in, Pouille conceded that he’d perhaps spent more time than he would have liked on court.
Monfils ran out a 6-4 6-3 6-3 victor in the all-French quarter-final at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday to seal his progress into the final four.
Gael Monfils is back in a Grand Slam semi-final after an eight-year wait, pummelling fellow Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the US Open last four.
Afterward, Monfils took a swipe at those who have questioned his methods. “Sometimes those points don’t mean anything for me”.
“I don’t want to really talk about that now”. Kerber missed a shot to lose the point, then glared overhead. “I think it is never easy to play a quarter-final against a French guy, you know”, he said.
“We have not taken any final decision, but as I understand her, it will not be a long career”, he was quoted as saying. “I always say that the French is my home, but this one is my second”. He never had won a U.S. Open match until last week and his 4-hour-plus win against Nadal on Sunday was his third five-setter in a row.
“Of course I was a bit exhausted today”, Pouille said.
One break was all he needed in the third, as he wrapped up the match without facing a break point. With Pouille serving on set point, the young Frenchman put himself in a 0-2 hole when he double faulted to drop the second set.
After holding with back-to-back aces, Monfils broke the error-prone Pouille at love to take the set. “As tournament progresses, I feel like I’m getting better”, Djokovic said. “And the lob obviously is the best shot”.
He already was ahead 6-4, 4-3 when a brief shower led organizers to shut Ashe’s $150 million cover that is making its debut this year.
Afterward, Monfils wouldn’t divulge too much on what he might need to do to topple top seed Novak Djokovic should the two meet in the semis – Monfils will play the victor of the Djokovic-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga match – but Monfils did cite another elite athlete from a different hardcourt who has inspired him to elevate his game of tennis: Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. Monfils, Pouille and Tsonga gave France a trio of quarterfinalists at the American Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 89 years.
“To be honest, I have no idea what happened”, said Monfils.
But after being two points from taking the first set against Kerber while serving for it at 5-4, 30-all, the No. 7-seeded Vinci faltered badly.
Roberta Vinci, who stunned Serena Williams on the way to last year’s U.S. Open final, says she will ponder retiring at the end of this season.
Kerber’s first U.S. Open semifinal since 2011 will come against two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-0, 6-2 victor against Anastasija Sevastova, who injured her right ankle in the second game and was never able to get herself going in the match.
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It’s been quite a resurgence for Wozniacki, who is ranked only 74th after dealing with injuries and hadn’t won a match at a major in 2016 until last week.
