TENNIS NEWS – GAEL MONFILS MAKES QUICK WORK OF BELEAGUERED ZVEREV, TO FACE KARLOVIC IN WASHINGTON, D.C. TITLE MATCH

Written by: Staff on 23rd July 2016

Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington DC

TENNIS NEWS - GAEL MONFILS MAKES QUICK WORK OF BELEAGUERED ZVEREV, TO FACE KARLOVIC IN WASHINGTON, D.C. TITLE MATCH

epa05438594 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

The combination of an ill Alexander Zverev and a red-hot Gael Monfils result in an unexpectedly lopsided semifinal showdown at the Citi Open on Saturday evening. Zverev, who said afterward that he dealt with food poisoning the night before, went down 6-4, 6-0 in exactly one hour.

Alexander Zverev of Germany returns a shot against Gael Monfils of France 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

“For sure in the second set he was really off,” Monfils noted of his opponent. “He was a different player. I could see that the second set was a bit different; it was tougher for him.”

Of course, it likely would have been tough for Zverev no matter what. Monfils has dropped only one set this week and has been nothing short of dominant aside from a brief mid-match hiccup against Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals. The 17th-ranked Frenchman maintained his fine form during this one, firing 10 aces without double-faulting and breaking the 19-year-old German on four occasions.

Next up for Monfils on Sunday afternoon is Ivo Karlovic in a match that will determine the Washington, D.C. champion and will also break a 2-2 tie in their head-to-head series.

Steve Johnson had solved the John Isner serve–just barely–in the quarters on Friday, but he could not do the same against Karlovic in the semis. Of course, Johnson’s biggest problem was failing to take care of his own serve. The 25th-ranked American could not even force a tiebreaker, as one break in each set was enough for Karlovic to get the job done 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes.

Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in action against Steve Johnson of the USA during their semifinal match of the Citi Open tennis tournament, at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC, USA, 23 July 2016. EPA/ZACH GIBSON

Karlovic double-faulted five times, including three in his opening service games, but he doubled Johnson’s ace count (14 to seven), won 86 percent of his first-serve points, and saved all five of the break points he faced.

“I was trying to mix (it up) a lot on my serves, and of course going more to his backhand because that is his weaker shot, Karlovic explained. “I was mixing (it up) good and at all the crucial moments I was able to come up with a good shot.”

“You lose your focus for a second and lose serve, and that’s the margin against a guy like Ivo,” Johnson explained. “I had a lot more chances than I did yesterday (against Isner); I just didn’t capitalize on them.”