Djokovic, who will face either Stan Wawrinka or Kei Nishikori in his seventh US Open final, lost his concentration, blowing three straight set points on serve at 5-1.
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In what was one of the more weird encounters to unfold on a grand slam court, Monfils was showered with boos one set and cheers the next before exiting Arthur Stadium to a mixture of both.
Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, reacts after beating Kei Nishikori, of Japan, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY. It happened again in the third set, when Monfils’ quirky behavior drove Djokovic to tear off his shirt after the final point.
Hours before the match, Djokovic clutched at his back during a practice session in Ashe. Novak saved a set point in game 8 and had a nice chance to get to the scoreboard completely, with 3 break points in game 9, only to lose the following 5 points, as Gael won the third set by 6-3.
The outset certainly was memorable, if indecipherable.
Novak Djokovic seemed on his way to a shattering 6-0 first set over Gael Monfils when the funky Frenchman appeared to stop playing seriously.
It was all about Djokovic in the second set, clinching it 6-2 in just 29 minutes.
“I knew it would be really tough to beat Kei”, Wawrinka said. It’s tough, because when he calls me unprofessional, he calls my coach unprofessional, calls my physio unprofessional – all my team, actually, unprofessional.
“This”, John McEnroe told ESPN’s viewers, “is weird”.
Looking ready to throw in the towel, Monfils flapped at a few shots then sprinkled in a few brilliant returns to leave an increasingly irritated Djokovic off-balance and the crowd scratching their heads. “He didn’t give me any time to (play) my game”.
Opening the second set with the best exchange of the match, Djokovic flicked a high leaping backhand volley, but failed to put away two more backhand volleys. Soon, Djokovic led 2-0 in the third, breaking on a double-fault that drew boos and whistles. All over but the shouting, right? She also took part in the WTA finals, where the best eight players of the season faced off against one another. He shoveled a forehand pass to break back for 2-all the crowd erupted as Monfils raised a clenched fist toward his box.
Monfils was now at his best, including one spectacular point in which he took a long run to get to a short ball, then reversed direction for a leaping volley victor.
On Saturday morning, hours before the match, Djokovic clutched at his back during a practice session in Ashe.
Djokovic cheerfully admitted that Monfils got into his head for one or two games. There were extenuating circumstances due to lingering shoulder problems on the left and right side that required attention during the match.
The 29-year-old arrived in NY with niggling injuries to his left wrist and right elbow but claimed he is not concerned ahead of the final. “Gael is very entertaining to watch, a very charismatic guy”. The man Djokovic met in the third round, Mikhail Youzhny, stopped after six games that took 31 minutes because of a strained left hamstring.
In the late going, Monfils was leaning over and leaning on his racket between points.
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Questions continue to loom over Djokovic ahead of Sunday’s final, but it was near-impossible to form a valid conclusion about his fitness and troublesome left wrist given the sapping conditions and an opponent who continuously switched modes between disinterested and inspirational.
