Publications
Partners
New York - Blasted by the trickiest winds yet at this year's US Open, Novak Djokovic adjusted his game and blew out French 17th seed Gael Monfils 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the US Open semi-finals.
The Serbian third seed joined Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as the only men to reach the US Open semi-finals four years in a row since the Open Era began in 1968.
Djokovic will play for a spot in Sunday's final on Saturday against Swiss second seed Roger Federer, who eliminated Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Djokovic, whose only Grand Slam title came at the 2008 Australian Open, is only 5-10 against Federer, including losses in the 2007 US Open final and 2008 and 2009 US Open semi-finals.
"I have two days. I will try to use them the best I can to recover and get ready to play another match," Djokovic said.
"I would like to face Federer, look for some revenge."
Both players battled swirling winds that hindered play, but Djokovic handled the conditions well and recovered from going down an early break to dominate the final sets.
"These are the worst conditions so far. I'm fortunate to be in the semi-finals," Djokovic said.
"The conditions were the trickiest we saw in the tournament so far. I just needed to keep the focus and try to use the wind in my favor.
"In big matches like this you have to stay with your opponent. I'm really happy with the way I'm using my experience on the court in these conditions."
Cheered on by French football star Thierry Henry, Monfils said he struggled with the windiest conditions in which he had ever played.
"For me it's really hard to play with the wind. My adjustment is not that good sometimes," Monfils said. "You cannot serve or hit like you want. Sometimes the ball go far. It changed completely the way I wanted to play.
"The talent to play in the wind, I don't have yet."
Djokovic, now 5-0 against Monfils, netted a backhand to surrender a break in the third game of the match, but the Frenchman went wide with a forehand in the eighth game and they battled into a tie-breaker.
"When he broke back I had thought I was safe and I would use the wind," said Monfils. "My game dropped at that point. The breaker was just a bad one."
Djokovic dominated the decider, seizing 3-0 and 6-1 leads before a Monfils forehand beyond the baseline surrendered the set.
"The first set was one of the turning points," Djokovic said. "He had a break advantage and I managed to come back. I was focused when I needed to be."
Djokovic dominated from there, playing cautious in the breezes as Monfils threw caution to the wind.
"I compete but in that wind you can really find my weakness," Monfils said. "I'm physical and speed. I need to be focused on every shot. I have to think ahead on every shot. On this I have to improve a lot. I cannot use any skill. I can try to push the ball and deal with.
Monfils, whose best Grand Slam showing was a 2008 French Open semi-final run, would have been only the second Frenchman in the Open Era to reach the US Open semi-finals after 1993 US Open runner-up Cedric Pioline.
No Frenchman has won the US crown since Henri Cochet in 1928.
Results of Wednesday's men's matches at the US Open tennis championships (x denotes seed):
Quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic (SRB x3) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x17) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Robin Soderling (SWE x5) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
The Serbian third seed joined Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe as the only men to reach the US Open semi-finals four years in a row since the Open Era began in 1968.
Djokovic will play for a spot in Sunday's final on Saturday against Swiss second seed Roger Federer, who eliminated Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
Djokovic, whose only Grand Slam title came at the 2008 Australian Open, is only 5-10 against Federer, including losses in the 2007 US Open final and 2008 and 2009 US Open semi-finals.
"I have two days. I will try to use them the best I can to recover and get ready to play another match," Djokovic said.
"I would like to face Federer, look for some revenge."
Both players battled swirling winds that hindered play, but Djokovic handled the conditions well and recovered from going down an early break to dominate the final sets.
"These are the worst conditions so far. I'm fortunate to be in the semi-finals," Djokovic said.
"The conditions were the trickiest we saw in the tournament so far. I just needed to keep the focus and try to use the wind in my favor.
"In big matches like this you have to stay with your opponent. I'm really happy with the way I'm using my experience on the court in these conditions."
Cheered on by French football star Thierry Henry, Monfils said he struggled with the windiest conditions in which he had ever played.
"For me it's really hard to play with the wind. My adjustment is not that good sometimes," Monfils said. "You cannot serve or hit like you want. Sometimes the ball go far. It changed completely the way I wanted to play.
"The talent to play in the wind, I don't have yet."
Djokovic, now 5-0 against Monfils, netted a backhand to surrender a break in the third game of the match, but the Frenchman went wide with a forehand in the eighth game and they battled into a tie-breaker.
"When he broke back I had thought I was safe and I would use the wind," said Monfils. "My game dropped at that point. The breaker was just a bad one."
Djokovic dominated the decider, seizing 3-0 and 6-1 leads before a Monfils forehand beyond the baseline surrendered the set.
"The first set was one of the turning points," Djokovic said. "He had a break advantage and I managed to come back. I was focused when I needed to be."
Djokovic dominated from there, playing cautious in the breezes as Monfils threw caution to the wind.
"I compete but in that wind you can really find my weakness," Monfils said. "I'm physical and speed. I need to be focused on every shot. I have to think ahead on every shot. On this I have to improve a lot. I cannot use any skill. I can try to push the ball and deal with.
Monfils, whose best Grand Slam showing was a 2008 French Open semi-final run, would have been only the second Frenchman in the Open Era to reach the US Open semi-finals after 1993 US Open runner-up Cedric Pioline.
No Frenchman has won the US crown since Henri Cochet in 1928.
Results of Wednesday's men's matches at the US Open tennis championships (x denotes seed):
Quarter-finals
Novak Djokovic (SRB x3) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x17) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1, 6-2
Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Robin Soderling (SWE x5) 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
