It was nothing short of a bizarre semifinal at the U.S. Open on Friday afternoon, as Novak Djokovic beat Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the title match for the seventh time in his career at this tournament. Djokovic needed two hours and 32 minutes to scrape through what became a roller-coaster of a contest against the mercurial Monfils.
Just 90 minutes into the showdown, Djokovic found himself leading by two sets and a break at the expense of a flailing Frenchman. Boos from the crowd even poured down on Monfils for a perceived lack of effort, after which he finally picked up the pace midway through the third. The world No. 12 broke Djokovic twice in a row and ended up storming back to force a fourth set.
In what proved to be the final frame of play, both men struggled physically in extremely humid conditions while also dealing with various nagging injuries. Monfils seemed to be plagued by knee pain; Djokovic had work done on both arms throughout the match. Without too much trouble, however, the world No. 1 restored order to the proceedings early in the fourth and managed to get the job done without having to expend too much extra energy.
“It was a strange match,” Djokovic assessed, “as it always is, I guess, when you play Gael–who is very unpredictable player. I could expect that in a way. I was 5-love up in less than 20 minutes and everything felt great. But that’s Gael; that’s the way he plays.”
Monfils was just being Monfils, so he did not find it strange at all.
“Strange match why?” he asked in response to the opening question of his press conference. “I think it was hot and humid; it was very physical. The heat (did) not really help us…. I think I [tried] my best every time. He was just too good.”
But it was still far from peak Djokovic, who has been mostly untested throughout the Flushing Meadows fortnight. The top-seeded Serb regretted his inability to meet the challenge during the brief moments in which Monfils raised his game.
“I think I should not have allowed him to come back to the match after (being) two sets to love up and 2-0 in the third,” Djokovic commented. “That was the momentum shift when I lost my service game. He started believing in himself. I think he felt like he needs to step it up and start to play better, which he did–and then crowd was behind him. They wanted to see [a] long match. I think we both physically struggled a little bit towards the end of the third and fourth set.”
The nightcap also resulted in a four-setter that was similarly energy-sapping, but it featured far better quality. Stan Wawrinka has now reached the final of three different slams, as the 2014 Australian Open winner and 2015 French Open champion defeated Kei Nishikori 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
Nishikori, the runner-up at this event in 2014, took the first set before sets two and three lasted a combined one hour and 59 minutes, but the Japanese start wilted in the fourth amidst a flurry of huge groundstrokes by Wawrinka.
“I think we all know during the season I had some ups and downs,” the Swiss said in his on-court interview. “I’m focused here; to accept the fight. I’m proud of myself [for staying strong]. I’m really excited. I’ve watched the (U.S. Open) final so many times. It’s going to be something special.”
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