Djokovic, a two-time U.S. Open champion, will defend his title Sunday against No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.
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NEW YORK-Novak Djokovic’s unusual US Open path took another odd turn Friday as the defending champion defied stultifying humidity and the controversial tactics of Gael Monfils to book a title showdown with Stan Wawrinka.
After losing the first set, Wawrinka found his range, used his experience and brought that fighting quality of his to the fore to beat his Japanese opponent 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
Wawrinka won his maiden major at the 2014 Australian Open, before knocking off Djokovic in the 2015 French Open final.
“To play Novak again it will be very special”, he said. Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead thanks in part to two games with a pair of double-faults apiece from Monfils.
But 10th seed Monfils, who’d reacted angrily to being booed, somehow found his magic and reeled off five games in a row. I don’t think he gets too stressed by the bigger occasion. “But that’s Gael”, Djokovic said. These would constitute new trouble spots for the Serb, who arrived in NY with concerns about his left wrist, then got treatment on his right elbow during his first- and fourth-round matches, the only ones he needed to complete until Friday.
“When you change, you change with what you got”, Monfils said.
Then came the third, when Monfils finally made a stand, and Djokovic ripped off his white shirt in anger a la “The Incredible Hulk”.
Wawrinka saved four break points in the seventh game of the second set to stay on serve at 4-3 and saved two more in the ninth game before leveling the match.
Gael Monfils says he was just trying to change up his strategy against Novak Djokovic, and he’s sorry John McEnroe thinks that’s “unprofessional”.
“He started believing in himself. I think the crowd enjoyed it in the end”.
Monfils had a chance to keep his momentum going into the fourth set with a break point in the opening game but another couple of lazy shots handed the hold of serve to Djokovic.
One of the reasons this match is so enticing is because of the previous history between the two players.
In the other semi-final, Wawrinka and Nishikori played out another gruelling contest as the temperature and humidity remained brutal, with the Swiss proving just the stronger.
He’s spent 17 hours and 54 minutes on court.
Djokovic had three set points while serving at 5-1, 40-love, and Monfils transitioned into something that at first blush appeared to be “tanking” losing on goal, for who knows what reason but which he explained afterward was the tennis equivalent of Muhammad Ali’s boxing “rope-a-dope”, absorbing someone else’s best shots and pretending to not be interested in attacking.
The world number three ensured the second set did not go to a tie-break, wrapping it up in 12 games despite Nishikori’s resilience.
But this was Kerber’s turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-all and again to end it.
Speaking to the BBC after his victory over Kei Nishikori, Wawrinka highlighted just how tough it had been to make it through all the sets in those conditions.
“I’m very sad to hear that”, Monfils told reporters after hearing of McEnroe’s criticism of him. But the big one like always is the men’s final.
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“I’m really excited. I watched the final so many times here”. “I want to be able to put myself in position to fight for the trophy, and everything that has happened in the tournament so far is behind me now”.
