Novak Djokovic vs Gael Monfils – Quarterfinal Preview: Western & Southern Open 2011
World number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, features yet another quarter-final in the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, facing the eight ranked Frenchman, Gael Monfils, in Western and Southern Financial
Group Masters.
The highly anticipated contest will be staged on the outdoor hard courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, United States, on Friday afternoon, with two of the finest tennis players competing for a place
in the semi-finals of the ATP Masters Series event.
Top seeded Djokovic will play his 11th quarter-final of the current year and came to Cincinnati as the hot favourite for bagging the title. He got a bye to get a direct access to the second round of the tournament, defeating
the local wildcard, Ryan Harrison, to get to the third round. The Serbian top seed totally blew away Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, in the round of 16 to power his way to the quarter-finals of Cincinnati Open.
Regarded as invincible these days, Djokovic is riding a 55-1 unbelievable record in the current ATP season and has already bagged nine championship titles, which include two all-prestigious Grand Slams as well. The Serb is currently
in the form of his life time and is playing his best tennis ever. He outclassed Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on more than one occasion this year and has forced his way to the top of the men’s world rankings.
The other contestant for Friday’s quarter-final, Monfils, also received a bye for the second round and ousted Ivan Dodig to reach the third round. The Frenchman absolutely devastated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in straight
sets 6-2, 6-2, to book a date with the world number one in the quarter-finals.
The French has not won a championship title but his consistent performances with the racquet have brought him back to the top-10 male tennis players. He bagged 29 victories out of the total 40 singles matches he played before the
quarter-final at Cincinnati.
The top seed Serb has a magnificent record of 7-0 against Monfils in singles encounters till date, with a recent victory in the quarter-final of Montreal Masters last week. Monfils has never defeated Djokovic and it will certainly
require an extraordinary effort from the French to break the winning impetus of the Serb in Friday’s matchup.
Djokovic delivered just 47 per cent of his serve on target and secured 17 out of 24 first serve points in his last matchup against Stepanek. His weakening serve game might be the only opportunity for Monfils to exploit but the
Serb is already aware of it.
“There are periods of the match where I serve okay and then periods where I serve very bad, but that's okay,” said Djokovic after winning against Stepanek. “It all happens. I played so many matches, and they caught up to me a little
bit. It's expected that some part of my game is not working 100 per cent. But I believe that tomorrow the serve will be better.”
There is no doubt that Djokovic is the hot favourite for winning the quarter-final and then the championship title, but Monfils can be very lethal on his day against any world class opponent.
Tags: