Posts Tagged ‘Monfils’

Monfils advances to U.S. Open quarter-finals

Monfils advances to U.S. Open quarter-finals
Gael Monfils became the first Frenchman in the U.S. Open quarter-finals since 2000, ousting countryman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 on Monday to reach the last eight on the Flushing Meadows hardcourts.

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Djokovic, Nalbandian, Monfils Win in Davis Cup, but Murray Looks On

Djokovic, Nalbandian, Monfils Win in Davis Cup, but Murray Looks On
It’s high summer and in the all-to-brief hiatus between Wimbledon and the start of the North American hard-court swing, there’s just enough time for the best tennis nations to go head-to-head in the Davis Cup. In four far-flung parts of the world, they lock horns in the quarterfinals of a competition that could take them to national glory at the end of the year. The big question, as the tie got …

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Tennis- Djokovic Takes his First Paris Masters from Gael Monfils

Novak Djokovic seems unstoppable after winning two tournaments in a row: first last week in Basel at the final of the Swiss Indoor tournament against Roger Federer and this week at the Paris Masters, where he defeated the local favorite Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (3) in a dramatic final on Sunday to win the title for the first time. In order to advance to the finals of the tournament, he had to beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He did so smoothly in just two sets 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday. This allowed him to continue on his search to enter the tournament finals for the first time in his career. The Serb was dominant from the beginning, although he said that Nadal was a very skilled player and a difficult one to face. “He is one of the players who is very unpredictable,” Djokovic said. “He can play really, really fast. And with a big serve, he can do a lot of damage to opponents.” This is the second time on a row that he defeated Nadal, improving his 6-14 record against the Spaniard before adding another final to his growing collection. The third-ranked Djokovic looked very calm in the first set with Monfils, which he won easily 6-2 with almost no errors, losing only three points on his serve. The second set was another story; the French player gave his best and, with the crowd’s backing, defeated Djokovic. It wasn’t a hard task, with Djokovic committing 21 unforced errors and ging the opportunity to Monfils to win the first break point in the fifth game. Monfils continued pressuring the Serb to good effect; Djokovic failed to convert during three opportunities and gave space. The French player took advantage of his opponent’s weakness and broke the serve again to lead the second set 6-5. The crowd was cheering frantically for Monfils after each point he converted, dramatically increase the tension during the match. In the final set, the Serb forced an early break again and took the lead 4-1 as Monfils was left gasping for breath after a particularly difficult battle. But Monfils was able to retake the game and won three games in a row, equalizing the score at 4-4. He took advantage of Djokovic’s double fault on a break point. This eventually forced a tie breaker on the game that resulted in Djokovic’s victory over the French player, who was exhausted by the end of the match. “It was unbelievably difficult,” said Djokovic, who has won a record 76 matches on tour this season and claimed his first Masters 1000 title. He added: “Gael was very unpredictable and he was hitting the ball very good”. Djokovic is 4-0 against Monfils, who was looking for his third career title. Djokovic was proud to win this title, the first tournament title of his career. He is now preparing for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 22-29 in London, where he will defend the title.

Do you think Gael Monfils has a good chance at upsetting Roger Federer today?

Gael Monfils is a very talented rising star, unfortunately beset by injuries recently, but is healthy again. Roger Federer has shown that he is not as invincible as he once was, especially of late. Does anybody want to make a prediciton here?
Rafanadalgirl and Gina D, I like the fact that you’re going out on a limb and picking Monfils.