US Open 2010: Novak Djokovic cruises into the semi-finals
Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic has powered his way into the semi-final round of the United States Open 2010 on the fourth occasion in a row.
The third seeded Djokovic brushed aside Frenchmen Gael Monfils in a total of three sets under windy conditions on Wednesday. The final match score was 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 and 6-2.
Seeded seventeenth at the US Open, Monfils, despite starting well, couldn’t continue his aggressive game after the opening set in New York. The Serbian took complete charge of the quarter-final clash after winning a tight first set.
Novak, as a result of this victory, will now meet second seed Roger Federer in the semi-final round of the United States Open in New York.
The Swiss reached the semi-finals in New York after easing aside his fifth seeded opponent Robin Soderling in a three setter clash on Wednesday. The final match score was 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5.
Djokovic, the 2007 US Open finalist, while commenting on this match after the victory said, "The opening set was one of the turning points in the match. He although had a break advantage however I did well to bounce back quickly. I remained focused throughout the match."
He further said, "the conditions out there in New York are too difficult to play and win the match in the end. I feel myself to be lucky enough to reach the semi final round of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament. I have a total of two complete days to practice and rest my body and mind prior to my semi final clash. I will try my level best to come back and play at my very best in the semis.”
Novak joins John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer as well as Ivan Lendl as the only player to make his way into the semi-final round of the United States Open on a total of four times in a row in the open era.
Meanwhile Gael, whose best run at a major event was reaching the final four at the French Open back in 2008, failed in his quest to register his name as the second French tennis player in the Open era to make his way into the semi-final round in New York since Cedric Pioline achieved this feat for France back in 1993.
Novak, who now has a 5-0 record against Gael, surrendered a break during the third game of the clash. However, the French tennis player bounced back with a forehand during the eighth game and the set concluded with a tie breaker in the end.
Djokovic dominated the breaker, grabbing leads of 3-0 and 6-1 before Gael put a long forehand to lose the set in New York. The world number three took full advantage of the situation, winning the following set in a time of 46 minutes at the Flushing Meadows.
The Serbian continued his dominance in the decisive set despite some carefree hitting from Gaels who appeared to know that he has lost the match.
"The thing is that I find it extremely hard to play with the wind. You can say that it is my biggest weakness. And that exactly happened in the today’s clash as well. I just couldn’t concentrate on my game and Novak took full advantage of my weakness and played well to reach the semis. He deserves the victory. It was quite frustrating for me to handle the wind at times as it was not easy to hit the ball with it. I seriously think that I don’t have that skill to play in such conditions,” said Monfils after his defeat at the Flushing Meadows in New York.
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