“At this stage of the tournament and season, I think one of the most important things for a player is this freshness of the mind, of the body, and just having that right supply of substance in your body and the enduring strength that you need, the speed, the alertness”.
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Djokovic has now won each and every of his 10 US Open quarterfinal matches, 10 straight Grand Slam quarters overall and 23 of the past 24.
“I knew it was over for me straightaway, because when I have my knee of course it’s already tough to play against one of the best tennis players”.
“It’s a court I love”, he told the crowd during an on-court interview.
Pouille had upset two-time champion Rafael Nadal in the previous round, but he looked to be feeling the effects of being taken the distance in three consecutive matches leading up to the all-French clash on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Also a big server, she had more aces than Pliskova on Wednesday, but she was broken four times and made 27 unforced errors.
Monfils was in control throughout against the 22-year-old Pouille, who was coming off an epic fifth-set tiebreaker win over 14-time major victor Rafael Nadal.
It was perhaps the most disappointing night of the US Open. “He was better than me today”.
But Tsonga wobbled in the sixth game, committing three double faults to lose serve, the first of three successive breaks that left the Serb with a 5-3 lead.
Dictating from the baseline, Monfils took charge with seven of his 13 aces in the opening set, gaining the only break he needed in the seventh game.
Monfils repeatedly used lobs to make Pouille run.
“Of course I was a bit exhausted today”, said Pouille, who also ousted 15th seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain along the way.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN Djokovic [1] bt Tsonga [9] 6-3 6-2 ret.
“I love watching Gael”, Djokovic said. During the changeover after the third game, a trainer examined and taped up the ankle during a medical timeout.
It was the third time in five matches that an opponent’s injury has worked to Djokovic’s advantage, after his walkover into the third round where Mikhail Youzhny retired after just six games.
Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares moved into the semi-finals of the men’s doubles with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Andre Sa and Chris Guccione and now face Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Kerber could dethrone Serena Williams, who she has already faced in the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals this year, on top of the world rankings if results go her way.
Caroline Wozniacki, a former No. 1 player who is unseeded for this tournament, continued her very strong play and punched her ticket to the semifinals with a dominant win over Anastasija Sevastova, 6-0, 6-2.
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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.
