Novak Djokovic vs Gael Monfils – Quarterfinal Preview: Rogers Cup 2011
All eyes are anxiously waiting to see the new world number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, play his first quarter-final as the top seed, against the seventh ranked French competitor, Gael Monfils, at Rogers Cup on Friday afternoon.
The highly anticipated contest will be featured at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada, with the winner getting access to the semi-finals of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Master Series event.
Being the top seed in the tournament, Djokovic is the hot favourite for the Friday’s contest, as well as for winning the championship title later on. The Serb won both of his initial round matches in straight sets en route to the
round of eight. He annihilated the former world number three, David Nalbandian of Argentina, in the second round and then outclassed Croatia’s number one, Marin Cilic, 7-5, 6-2, in the third round to cruise into the quarters.
The belligerent Serb has been in the form of his life time and has a win-loss ratio of 50-1 this running season. Djokovic has climbed to the top spot last month after his Wimbledon Championships victory and has won a total of eight
singles titles in the year so far. No doubt he is the toughest competitor around these days and is deemed to be invincible to all other tennis players.
On the other hand, the fifth seeded Monfils is also enjoying his career best rank of number seven, after his consistent performances with the racquet in the recent past. The French went through a real tough time in his third round
matchup against the 12th seed, Viktor Troicki of Serbia, but eventually stood tall against him by winning the three-set thriller at 3-6, 7-6(0), 7-6(5). His second round matchup against the American qualifier, Alex Bogomolov, was also decided in
the second set tie breaker round, depicting the fact that Monfils is a slow starter in the game.
The two men have faced each other on multiple occasions before but the top seeded Serb has always finished the contests on the winning end. The last time these two men went one-on-one was in the Round Robin of the Davis Cup final,
with Djokovic winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, to assist his team’s victory. The Serb leads the all-time head-to-head series against Monfils by 6-0 and it is highly anticipated that with the unstoppable form Djokovic is currently having, it won’t be
a difficult task for the top seed to dispose of the French in Friday’s matchup.
Although the crowd will be on the back of the top seed and he is hot favourite for winning the battle, Monfils won’t let it go that easy.
“My belief is I know I can run forever, and physically to be like in the red limit, I know I need to push hard," said the fifth seeded French after winning against Tipsarevic. "So maybe mentally I'm strong because I know I can
run forever and I can cover my court for many hours.”
No matter which of the two top class players win the quarter-final clash on Friday, one thing is for sure that it will be a treat to watch for.
Tags: