“If no one is doing that, everybody is like, “play tennis like this, you have to do like this”.
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Playing in high humidity and 100% heat courtside, Monfils, who hadn’t dropped a set before yesterday played abject tennis and was roundly booed by the 23,000 New Yorkers who wanted to see a contest and got nothing more than a virtual surrender for the first hour – before flicking a switch and turning the match on its head. “I watched the final so many times here”. It was a great theatre experience today.
The victory means Wawrinka will compete in a third career grand slam final, and his first at Flushing Meadows.
Kei Nishikori conceded his five-set battle with Andy Murray took its toll in his US Open semi-final defeat to Stan Wawrinka on Friday.
Monfils is nothing if not unpredictable and the man who squandered a two sets to love lead and two match points against Roger Federer at the 2014 US Open, suddenly found the on-switch.
Miscue after miscue arrived from Djokovic, and Monfils won three games in a row, before eventually dropping a set for the first time all tournament.
And he was the stable one on court.
Indeed, after much had been made about Monfils being more focused on court this year, his display in the first two sets could be considered a step backwards. Seventeen months later they met in the final of the French Open, when Djokovic was the clear favourite to complete his collection of Grand Slam titles, only for Wawrinka to hit him off the court with a display of all-out aggression.
In the background, the tennis had improved, Djokovic producing a scintillating repost to Monfils’ deep forehand which nearly defied physics with its precision and angle.
“I’m competing, you know”.
“Actually, in this stage of the season, considering some physical issues I have had in the last month, month and a half, this was the scenario that I needed and I wished for”, he said.
Monfils explained after the match that he was trying to alter his normal strategy against Djokovic, appearing lethargic and disinterested before firing a 100 miles per hour shot. “He also started to get exhausted a little bit. I’m very sad to learn that such a legend criticized me, because at the end what I can say to John is, ‘I want to be the best'”. “That’s all we were thinking and feeling. And the only reason I say bordering is because it’s working”.
Djokovic admitted Monfils’s freaky approach had unsettled him and that he had been foolish to get drawn into the trap. Djokovic raced to a 5-0 lead thanks in part to two games with a pair of double-faults apiece from Monfils. Monfils erased it with an ace and on game point, chased down a volley and put it away easily to finally get a game on the scoreboard to start a freakish switch of momentum.
After his loss, Monfils hit back at the accusations. The Stanimal relies on his durability, and the ability to rise up to big occasions, and he did just that by breaking back in the 4th game of the set to level at 2 games all.
Analyzing the match, Djokovic continued, ‘I think I should not have allowed him to come back to the match after two sets to love up and 2-love in the third.
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McEnroe said: “Monfils is bordering on unprofessional”. Nishikori was 4 of 15 on break-point chances.
