Gael Monfils, of France, serves to Marcos Baghdatis, of Cyprus, during the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016, in NY.
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Then he smacked a forehand into the net to give Pouille one more chance and the French player pounced on it with a blazing forehand that kissed the sideline.
Pouille knocked out 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Sunday, and faced Monfils in the quarterfinals later Tuesday, guaranteeing a French semifinalist.
Neither player is now ranked in the top 45, but considering their popularity with the fans, they’re facing off in a night match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Afterward, Monfils took a swipe at those who have questioned his methods.
Having won through to the last 16 as the beneficiary of a walkover and retirement in the second and third rounds respectively, Djokovic was finally tested in the fourth. “Definitely I want to win the point”. So what’s the point to make the show and lose?
“Well, at 6-3 I was like, ‘OK, you’re going to win this one,”‘ Pouille said.
The result means that 2016 will be the first year since 2004 that Nadal has not made a quarter-final of a Slam after a first round exit in Australia was followed by an enforced withdrawal from the French Open third round due to a wrist injury.
“You make it up”, Monfils told reporters who asked if a more controlled approach was behind the consistency he’s demonstrated of late. In the final-set tiebreak, Pouille held a 6-3 lead, with three match points on his racket before Nadal battled back to level it at 6-all, reports Xinhua.
A niggling wrist problem, however, had not completely healed in Rio and his elusive 15th major title, to add to the last he won at the 2014 French Open, appears ever further away. “I needed something more that was not there today”. Monfils didn’t face a break point, recorded 13 aces and double-faulted only twice.
However, Pouille said it was too early to say whether the breakthrough victory would change his career.
Pouille, meanwhile, ran out of steam. I’ve worked hard the last couple days and health-wise I feel much better than I did at the beginning of the tournament.
The Serb has kept himself busy on the practice courts but was happy to cut loose against an actual opponent, making 21-year-old Edmund the target of his arsenal of rifled groundstrokes, angled volleys, pinpoint passing shots, lobs and drop shots. I knew if I wanted to win that, it’s not going to be like three sets, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Monfils will meet the victor of Novak Djokovic versus Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – worryingly, he has never beaten the world No 1 Djokovic in 12 attempts.
“Is true that I don’t have lot of matches on my shoulders for the last three, four months, but even like this I lost an opportunity”, Nadal said.
Roberta Vinci fell apart after losing the opening set on a foot fault, allowing No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber to take last nine games and win their U.S. Open quarterfinal 7-5, 6-0 on Tuesday.
It was the first time in 89 years that three French men had reached the quarter-finals of the United States championships.
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Caroline Wozniacki, a former world No. 1 player, is unseeded in the tournament after recent struggles on the court.
