After winning the first two grand slams in 2016, the Serb lost out on the Wimbledon and Rio Olympic titles.
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Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, reacts after winning a point during his match against Juan Martin del Potro, of Argentina, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, early Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in NY.
The sixth-seeded Nishikori rallied to upset Andy Murray in five sets Wednesday, and he picked up where he left off at the outset of the semifinal.
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, reacts to the crowd during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament against Gael Monfils, of France, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY. The 30-year-old has not dropped a set yet over his last five rounds. Monfils won three games in a row, before eventually dropping a set for the first time all tournament. He reached his lone major title match in 2014 at Flushing Meadows, losing to fellow first-time finalist Marin Cilic.
Djokovic, too, wasn’t enamored with some of Monfils’ actions.
They split the first two sets, and Wawrinka is leading 4-3, on serve, in the third. In addition, we’ll have plenty of liquidity available within our game and set betting markets.
But Djokovic became unnerved and let Monfils come back to within 5-3.
Nishikori took the first set 6-4, then went up an early break in the second.
But here, steady and precise, he slowly unpicked the Monfils game plan of anarchy, and won 18 of 21 points to go a set and 4-1 up.
Djokovic, the No. 1 seed and defending champion, dipped in form in the third set, and had a trainer massage his left shoulder and, later, his right shoulder. This puts him on a record pace for fewest sets and games in an Open era major that featured a 128-man draw and only best-of-five-set matches.
Monfils said: “At the beginning I think Novak has been good, I didn’t serve great, it was very quick 5-0 and I got to change a little bit”.
“You know, I have two days to recover to play my first semis here”. A back and forth net exchange between the pair ended as Monfils hit a lob that Djokovic managed to push back with a behind the back overhead smash, but the smash wasn’t strong enough and Monfils ripped a backhand down the line that caught the net and fortunately for him, still landed over the other side of the court to finally get the opening hold of the set.
The once-dominant Big Four act is no more.
“When you change, you change with what you got”, Monfils said.
“I (had) to change”.
In a freaky match that was circus-like at times, the No. 1 seed and defending champion beat a sometimes-disinterested Monfils, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in extremely hot and humid conditions in Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance to Sunday’s final, where he will meet the victor between No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Kei Nishikori.
Djokovic entered Friday having enjoyed the easiest path to a major semifinal in the almost half-century of the Open era: Three of his first five foes pulled out of because of injuries.
He forced Djokovic to hit more shots, and when the Serbian rushed the net, Monfils would try for hard passing shots, seemingly flipping a switch from disengaged to focused.
Novak Djokovic downed Gael Monfils to reach a seventh US Open final Friday after a semi-final in which the Frenchman was roundly booed and accused of not trying.
Novak Djokovic is coming off a four set win over Gael Monfils that took 34 games to decide.
When asked how he bounced back from that third set to roll through the fourth and take the match, Djokovic was better prepared with a cheeky answer this time around.
There he will face Djokovic, who earlier saw of Frenchman Gael Monfils in a freakish four-set encounter of his own.
Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead Friday, with Monfils looking extremely tight and struggling with double-faults. He’s the favorite in the match against Monfils, and has never lost to him in 12 prior meetings between the two.
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Monfils staved off three Djokovic break points in the fourth set’s second game, then got a backhand victor that barely hopped over the net – prompting Monfils to bend and kiss the top of the net – and the show was on.
