Gael Monfils won one match in the span of 94 days earlier this year, a drought that started on April 17 and progressed through July 19. Out of nowhere, he has currently won nine matches in the last 10 days.
Monfils’ amazing turnaround started last week in Washington, D.C. at the Citi Open, where–finally benefiting from a clean bill of health–he secured the biggest title of his career. The Frenchman took his resurgence to a new level at the Rogers Cup on Friday evening, when he ousted No. 4 seed Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4 to round out the semifinal lineup. Monfils fought off all four of the break points he faced, so one break in each set allowed him to seal the deal in just one hour and 12 minutes.
Monfils uses amazing speed to break at 4-4 in the second set:
Watch this point as @Gael_Monfils goes into overdrive to break #Raonic #RogersCup https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC https://t.co/WNoekFtFS6
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 30, 2016
Something will have to give on Saturday because Monfils is 9-0 in his last nine matches but 0-11 lifetime against Novak Djokovic.
Raonic was the only one of the top four seeds this who fell short of reaching the last four, as the other semifinal will pit No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka against No. 3 seed Kei Nishikori. Wawrinka, who leads the head-to-head series 3-1, raised his level to hammer Kevin Anderson 6-1, 6-3 in the Toronto quarters.
“It was a really good match,” the fifth-ranked Swiss assured after routing Anderson. “I started really well from the first game. It showed me that I was ready, aggressive, (and)moving really well. It’s one of the best matches I have played this year, I think. I was calm, serving really good, and mixing it up a lot.”
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