Novak Djokovic wins quarterfinal against Gael Monfils – Rogers Cup 2011
World number one, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, kept his clean record against the seventh ranked Gael Monfils, defeating the French in the quarter-finals of Rogers Cup on Friday afternoon at the Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada.
Registering his 51st victory of the running ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) season, Djokovic wrapped up the contest in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, taking just one hour and fourteen minutes of play to make it to
the semi-finals of the Masters Series event.
The top seeded Serb proved absolutely merciless in the matchup against Monfils and completely blew away the fifth seeded French to extend his head-to-head record 7-0 against him. Djokovic’s majestic form continued in its full flow
in the Friday’s contest and he let only three games to his opponent in the entire matchup.
“I have played the best match of the tournament, no doubt,” said the 24-year-old Djokovic, “Everything was going well. I’m happy to see my game is progressing each day.”
The fifth seed Monfils was led down by his serve in the game and he secured just 13 first serve points in the match, while delivering merely 49 per cent serve on target. The French failed to crack in a serve break and frittered
away three break opportunities to remain on the back foot throughout the contest.
“He’s been playing better in last couple of months. He has increased his level,” said the top seed talking about Monfils, “He has a big serve. If he serves well, he can beat anybody. … It’s a fast surface. I need to return well
and hope that I can get some chances.”
The opener was off to a steady start but gathered up pace as the game progressed. Djokovic registered his first serve break of the day in the sixth game, nailing a powerful forehand down the line to get into 4-2 lead. The top seed
broke Monfils once again in the very next serve game to seal the first set at 6-2.
Djokovic finished off his demolition job in the second set and stung two more serve breaks to race away to 5-0 lead in no time. The Serb closed out the match at 6-1, getting into his 10th semi-final of the current year.
He will take on the other Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in the semis to get to the final for another title shot. Tsonga outplayed the world number 10, Nicolas Almagro of Spain, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarter-finals to meet the Serb in the next round.
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