TENNIS NEWS – GAEL MONFILS UPSETS MILOS RAONIC IN TORONTO TO SET UP A SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AGAINST WORLD NUMBER ONE NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Written by: Staff on 29th July 2016

Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington DC

TENNIS NEWS - GAEL MONFILS UPSETS MILOS RAONIC IN TORONTO TO SET UP A SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AGAINST WORLD NUMBER ONE NOVAK DJOKOVIC

epa05438613 Gael Monfils of France returns a shot against Alexander Zverev of Germany during their semifinals match of the Citi Open tennis tournament, at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC, USA, 23 July 2016. EPA/ZACH GIBSON |

By Ricky Dimon

Gael Monfils won one match in the span of 94 days earlier this season, a drought that began on April 17 and extended through July 19. He has currently won nine matches in the last 10 days.

Monfils’ incredible turnaround started last week in Washington, D.C., where–finally armed with a clean bill of health–he captured the biggest title of his professional career. The Frenchman’s resurgence reached new heights at the Rogers Cup on Friday night, when he upset fourth-seeded Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-3 to complete the quarterfinal schedule. Monfils saved all four of the break points he faced, so one break in each set allowed him to get the job done in just one hour and 12 minutes.

Something will have to give in Saturday’s semifinals, because Monfils is 9-0 in his last nine matches but 0-11 lifetime at the ATP level against Novak Djokovic.

The top-ranked Serb is a commanding 10-0 against Monfils on hard courts, but their only previous Toronto encounter was one to remember. During second-round action in 2014, Djokovic survived 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(2).

This week’s No. 10 seed will get another shot at Djokovic thanks to consistently stellar play. Prior to taking out Raonic, Monfils maintained his hot streak by scoring wins over Joao Sousa, Vasek Pospisil, and David Goffin. Djokovic is through to the semis thanks to defeats of Gilles Muller, Radek Stepanek, and Tomas Berdych.

Milos Raonic of Canada in action against Jared Donaldson of the USA during the third round of the Rogers Cup Men’s Singles tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 28 July 2016. EPA/WARREN TODA

Raonic was the only one of the top four seeds who failed to reach the semifinals, as the other contest on Saturday will pit No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka against third-seeded Kei Nishikori. Based on their 2014 U.S. Open thriller, it’s safe to say there have been far too few installments of this matchup over the years. In the 2014 quarterfinals in New York, Nishikori outlasted his Swiss adversary 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), 6-7(5), 6-4 on his way to a runner-up performance. It is Wawrinka, however, who leads the head-to-head series 3-1.

Although neither player has been absolutely on fire in 2016, both seem to be heading for berths in the year-end-championship. Nishikori has advanced in Toronto by beating Dennis Novikov, Rajeev Ram, and Grigor Dimitrov, donating only one set to Dimitrov in the process. He is recovering nicely after retiring from a Wimbledon fourth-rounder against Marin Cilic. Wawrinka, a semifinalist at Roland Garros, is 31-10 for the season following straight-set victories this week over Mikhail Youzhny, Jack Sock, and Kevin Anderson.

It is clear the fifth-ranked Swiss has been improving with each match in Toronto.

“It was a really good match,” Wawrinka said after blitzing Anderson. “I started really well from the first game. It showed me that I was ready, aggressive, (and)moving really well. It’s one of the best matches I have played this year, I think. I was calm, serving really good, and mixing it up a lot.”