Through the first six games, when the score was 3-all, there had been four service breaks and the players had combined for 26 unforced errors, accounting for almost half of the match’s points until then.
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In Thursday’s semifinals, Djokovic will play No. 10 Gael Monfils, who advanced earlier against No. 24 Lucas Pouille, the man who eliminated Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
The 30-year-old Monfils reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam event for the first time since his 2008 run in the French Open.
Pouille might have looked a little bit up and down coming into the final grand slam of the year, but he has been fantastic under pressure since arriving in NY. Monfils said. “That’s why people think, ‘Oh, he’s jumping, he’s sliding.’ In the end, you think I’m stupid?”
From there though, it was all downhill as Monfils came back in a thrilling five-set victory.
“It’s a court I love”, he told the crowd after finishing off Pouille.
The biggest challenge ahead of Pouille for this match is undoubtedly the ability of Monfils to get any player off their game with his entertaining ways and outrageous shot-making. Gael lost only 7 points on his first serve, which gave him a lot of confidence, and he kept his second serve safe as well, facing no break points and only one deuce in his games!
Monfils’ athleticism was a major factor in his dominant win over Pouille, who admittedly was tired after playing three straight five-set matches, including what he called “the best win of my career” over Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 on Sunday.
It showed in the way he often was a step – or more – slow to shots by Monfils, especially passing attempts.
“I know he was maybe a bit flat today, so he wanted to close at the net”, Monfils said.
Monfils repeatedly used lobs to make Pouille run.
Pouille was having to fight hard to win games on his own serve without threatening Monfils on his.
The roof at Ashe was closed midway through the second set when rain started to fall, with Monfils already up a set and leading 4-3. That resulted in a double-fault that ceded the set.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion, once again needed to put in very little work, advancing when No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stopped because of a hurt left knee after the first point of their quarterfinal’s third set Tuesday night.
“I did my best today”.
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.
Kerber, who has a chance to overtake Williams at No. 1 in the WTA rankings after the tournament, moved into her third Grand Slam semifinal of the year. She beat Williams to win the Australian Open for her first major championship, then lost to Williams in the Wimbledon final in July.
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On the women’s side, in a contest of unseeded players, the two-time U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki plays Anastasija Sevastova, who had never won four straight matches at any major until now.
