Tsonga advanced to a clash against either world number one Novak Djokovic or unseeded Briton Kyle Edmund.
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Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, smiles at the crowd after beating Jack Sock, of the United States, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY.
Frenchman Gael Monfils was satisfied with his performance in beating Lucas Pouille in the quarter-finals of the US Open. “The opponent played a good point on match point, and that’s it”.
Sure made for good videos, all those parallel-to-the-court dives or 360-degree smashes or racket-between-the-legs shots.
Ninth seed Tsonga followed Monfils’ lead and booked his quarterfinals berth 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2 over American 26th seed Jack Sock.
Afterward, Monfils took a swipe at those who have questioned his methods. “The opponent wants to win the same, like you”. “So what’s the point to make the show and lose, actually?”
Rafa Nadal says he was happy with his effort and prospects going forward this season, despite suffering a shock fourthround defeat at the US Open to Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Sunday.
His last grand slam victory came over two years ago at the French Open, so it’s only natural to feel pressure at crucial stages at the majors nowadays.
Since Monfils, the most gifted tennis player of his generation, according to nearly every observer, next to Roger Federer (who is about five years older), had prevailed over the tough, shrewd, consistent Marcos Baghdatis, in straight sets. “I got the power from the crowd in every match”.
Meanwhile women’s second seed Angelique Kerber was first through to their semi-finals bringing Roberta Vinci’s Flushing Meadows dream run to an end with a clinical 7-5 6-0 win.
No one ever has won four consecutive five-setters at a major in the Open era, which dates to 1968. Theres things I could do better, but I had the right attitude. Took some shortcuts, too, either watching balls fly to a far spot rather than chasing them or attempting quick-strike winners that veered off-course. That resulted in a double-fault that ceded the set.
Monfils repeatedly used lobs to try to take points from Pouille.
“So today I made a decision to be far from the baseline to hit the ball hard and try to then come closer”.
The young Frenchman, however, refused to go away, breaking back and sending the match to a fifth-set tiebreaker.
Ahead of facing either Novak Djokovic or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Monfils said his run in NY was satisfying.
Pouille, who is playing in just his 11th Major tournament, had never reached the third round until this year at Wimbledon, where he went to the quarter-finals.
“I came out of the blocks with high intensity which was hard after waiting all day to start the match”, he said. Tsonga, a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-2 victor over the last USA man in the field, No. 26 Jack Sock, now plays No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
Monfils, who also reached the final eight in NY in 2010 and 2014, and had two match points against Roger Federer in the latter year, will now fancy his chances of reaching just his second Grand Slam semi-final and first since 2008.
Halep, a former French Open finalist who has won three WTA titles in 2016, could find Serena Williams waiting for her in the last eight, with the world number one taking on 52nd-ranked Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova later Monday.
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Nadal, a two-time US Open champion, breezed through his opening three matches in Week 1, dropping only 20 games combined.
