For the third time at this U.S. Open, Djokovic didn’t have to finish his match to advance as No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga turned into French pastry and retired Tuesday night after losing the first two sets, claiming to have a sore left knee. And then the man Djokovic was supposed to play in the third round, Mikhail Youzhny, quit after six games and only 31 minutes with a strained left hamstring.
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“Not really. I mean, I have played so many times”. I reached the semifinals feeling fresh and healthy. He backed up the break with an emphatic hold at love, broke again for 5-2 and didn’t face a break point in the second frame.
“Well, I’m not going to practice for three or four hours just to feel that kind of potential for the fifth set scenario”.
The form book suggests Djokovic will face second-ranked Andy Murray – tennis’ most in-form player – in Sunday’s final. However Kerber found her immaculate range and depth in ground strokes to completely decimate Vinci 6-0 in the second set.
“It’s unusual, I’ve never had this at a Grand Slam”, Djokovic said on ESPN.
It is becoming obvious Gael Monfils can win tennis matches in either guise. While tennis players train their whole lives to be able to play 7 best five set matches, if need be, that is a lot easier said than done. “I’m sure it’s not something he wished for and didn’t want this to happen”. It is the first time Monfils has reached the last-four of a Grand Slam, since the 2008 French Open.
Djokovic should be the fresher having completed just two full matches in five rounds. “He was better than me today”. Moreover, he is yet to lose a set at Flushing Meadows and Djokovic is well aware of the threat that Monfils poses on Friday.
The most dramatic and compelling encounter between the two came 11 long years ago in the first round here in NY – 16 months after that meeting in Bergamo at the very lowest level of professional tennis – when both were just 18.
Seeded 10th, he will play No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia for a spot in the Open final.
Nishikori will be happy not to be facing del Potro who has a 4-0 lead in their rivalry and has never conceded a set to the Japanese.
“I’m happy with my performance”, Monfils said. Monfils, who hasn’t defeated Djokovic in his career, was asked about the epic match he played against the World No.1 at US Open 2005.
In the women’s draw on Tuesday, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki beat Anastasija Sevastova 6-0 6-2 in another match marred by injury, with the Latvian severely hampered by a twisted ankle.
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Kerber, in her quest to wrest the No.1 ranking from Serena Williams, Kerber has barely put a foot wrong in this US Open 2016, and the Australian Open champion was on the top of her game again, beating the finalist from previous year Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-0.
