There are no chances of fatigue affecting the top seed as he has played only nine completed sets at the Flushing Meadows in 2016.
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Del Potro, the US Open victor from 2009, played some of his best tennis this tournament and recently won the silver medal at the Rio Olympics, but it’ll be back to the drawing board for him.
In a weird and disjointed match played in brutal heat and humidity, Djokovic deconstructed the flat Frenchman, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, to advance to his sixth US Open final in the last seven years.
“At that one or two games, yeah, I allowed [him to get in my head]”, Djokovic said. “So I went through it all”. It was a great theatre experience today.
Djokovic has won 19 of 23 previous meetings, but Wawrinka did win their 2015 French Open final for his second Grand Slam title.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion will face either two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka or 2014 US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in Sunday afternoon’s final.
Because this 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Gael Monfils, in which artistry at times equated to burlesque, seemed to be all about the Frenchman and the unconventional – if controversial – tactics he employed in his quest to knock off Djokovic.
That premeditated “great strategy” of hoping to lull the No. 1 seed and defending champion into complacency and mistakes, as Monfils described it later, worked briefly, yet did not prevent a two-set deficit.
And he was the stable one on court.
Novak Djokovic is coming off a four set win over Gael Monfils that took 34 games to decide.
Djokovic has played only 13 sets, and a total of 118 games.
Novak Djokovic, rear, of Serbia, is congratulated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, of France, after Tsonga retired from the match in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, in NY.
A trainer works on the left shoulder of Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament against Gael Monfils, of France, Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, in NY. I know it is not natural because first question is you’re not competing.
“[Expletive] yes, I’m competing”.
“Definitely I tried to get into his head”, said Monfils.
“I’m just keeping the routine as it is”. “Of course, I’m disappointed that I lost in the first round, but that’s sport and that always can happen”, Kerber said. “I think that’s all we were thinking about and feeling”. It’s tough, you know.
“The 6’4” Frenchman’s astounding athleticism can make him a magical player, but his tendency to push and run rather than assert his gifts offensively can make him a maddening player as well.
Djokovic won a four-setter in the first round.
After taking the third and breaking Nishkori at love for a 2-0 lead in the fourth, Wawrinka appeared to be on his way. 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 a short comeback attempt from the Frenchman, the opening set finally went the way of the defending champion.
Monfils was furious that he had been branded as unprofessional by McEnroe who was commentating for American television.
By the end of the affair, Monfils finished with 52 unforced errors and had to save 12 of 20 break points.
Djokovic is the only player among the once-mighty Big Four with a winning record against each of the other three.
Monfils forced a fourth set, and Djokovic ripped off his white shirt angrily a la “The Incredible Hulk”.
Stretching his opponent with a backhand, Djokovic stepped in and drilled a forehand pass down the line closing a set that was painful, at times, to watch.
The Serb is the first man in the modern era to reach a Grand Slam semifinal after 3 retirements or walkovers.
No one was angered more than John McEnroe, who spent the vast majority of the match excoriating Monfils for the way he was playing on ESPN’s broadcast of the match.
Gael Monfils, left, congratulates Novak Djokovic after losing to the world No. 1 for the 13th time in as many career matches.
“I was completely caught offguard”, Djokovic said.
However, it was a flickering screen in Arthur Ashe that caused him the most grief early on as he nearly surrendered a 5-0 lead in the opening set. There’s not only one way to play tennis. “When the guy is too good, you change”.
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“Specifically, before this Grand Slam, there were things that were happening with my health and my physical state that were, you know, making me a little bit skeptical about how the thing was going to go during the tournament”, he said.
