Djokovic broke Monfils twice to take a 5-0 lead in the first set. “But this tops everything”. Even Sigmund Freud couldn’t figure this out.
Advertisement
As happened to Aussie Nick Kyrgios during his loss to Illya Marchenko earlier in the tournament, Monfils copped the wrath of tennis legend John McEnroe, who was commentating for ESPN.
“At the end, if I had a mic, I would say to the audience to stop saying that I’m unprofessional”.
In classic Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope fashion, Monfils turned would-be tanking into a tactic. He created a distraction, then rushed into the void left by Djokovic’s waning concentration.
Wawrinka needed to save a match point in the third round against 64th-ranked Dan Evans before prevailing in five sets.
Djokovic, a 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-2 victor against Monfils, is prepared for a sterner test from Wawrinka. “My fans have been suffering and celebrating with me from the very beginning of my career on the tennis courts”, Djokovic, in a statement released by the ATP, said.
“You know, sometimes, as his opponent it’s not easy to handle his up and downs but he’s a very important asset to our sport”.
The American later added: “You can’t support that, I’m sorry. And I try my best'”. “It’s tough because when he calls me unprofessional, he calls my coach unprofessional, he calls my physio unprofessional, all my team unprofessional”. “[It’s] a bit tough”.
Djokovic has described Monfils as the only player he would buy a ticket to watch and the Frenchman delivered an entertaining if unconventional display that drew both anger and applause.
Prodded by reporters about what he thought of the way Monfils played, Djokovic said, “I thought, at times, that he was maybe behaving a little bit – for some terms and judgments – unacceptable”. “He’s a very charismatic guy and he had a great tournament. If he said that you have to believe him I guess”.
Monfils’ tactics, while bold, ultimately proved unsuccessful as Djokovic’s skill and familiarity with the Frenchman’s playing style won out. Monfils finished with 11 double-faults and 52 unforced errors.
The second edition of the new Laver Cup exhibition event, pitting six men’s tennis players from Europe against six from the rest of the world, will be held in the United States in 2018. You have to do like this.’ It’s OK, you know. “And after years (when) Serena was there, I think it’s a nice change”.
“The change takes guts”. This was Monfils’ best showing ever at the US Open, even if his performance in the semifinal didn’t reflect well on him.
“I have done it because I want to win. When I was a kid, I was always dreaming to one day be the No. 1 player in the world, to win Grand Slams”, said the 28-year-old Kerber, who will move up one spot from No. 2 and replace Serena Williams atop the WTA rankings on Monday.
“I can push him a little bit to defend, also [give] myself more confidence, and put him out of his balance. I think he felt like he needs to step it up and start to play better, which he did”.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion will face either two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka or 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in Sunday afternoon’s final. Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead.
By contrast, Le Monf had not dropped a set coming into the match, but ultimately played 19 sets and 178 games.
Djokovic benefited from three injured opponents – Jiri Vesely (withdrew), Mikhail Youzhny (retired) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (retired).
Djokovic ripped his white shirt off as he dropped the third set.
“Thankfully it’s behind me, so I don’t have any concerns”, Djokovic said.
“We are people in the heat of the moment and you tend to do things like that”.
And how did he bounce back from that?
Advertisement
“The way I bounce back from that”, he said, “is take another T-shirt from my bag”.
