Djokovic to face Monfils in bid to reach US Open final

Earlier, Djokovic’s second-round opponent, Jiri Vesely, withdrew from the tournament with a sore left forearm while the man he was supposed to play in the third round, Mikhail Youzhny, pulled out of the tournament after six games due to a strained left hamstring.

Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils meet in the semifinals of the 2016 US Open.

One break was all he needed in the third, as he wrapped up the match without facing a break point.

“(Monfils) is one of the players I would pay a ticket to watch”, Djokovic said. “As the tournament progresses, I feel like I’m getting better”.

Tenth seed Monfils was his dynamic self and invincible from the service line in a commanding win over 22-year-old Pouille, who was coming off three successive five-set wins including a fourth-round upset of 14-times grand slam victor Rafa Nadal.

“I never experienced something like this to have three retirements on the road to the semifinals”, he said. “I just kept going with my game plan”.

“Of course I was a bit exhausted today”, Pouille said.

“I can only wish my opponents a speedy recovery”, Djokovic said.

“I have two days to recover to play my first semis here”. “This Grand Slam is very unique for me. I dive because I want to win the point”, he said. Tsonga made the mistake of trying to hang with the Serb at the baseline far too often and he paid for it dearly.

When the draw first came out, Djokovic faced the prospect of having to beat three former Open champions to win the title: 2014 champ Marin Cilic in the quarterfinals, two-time victor Rafael Nadal in the semis and 2012 champion Andy Murray in the finals.

In contrast to the shorter time Djokovic has had, Monfils has spent almost ten hours on court, despite all of his wins coming in straight sets.

Up next for Monfils will be a matchup against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, or No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whose quarterfinal was scheduled for Tuesday night. In the fifth game, the Frenchman put the Serbian under pressure.

“He seems more focused at this time of his career and I am definitely expecting a tough battle”.

If ever the world’s best current player needed tennis to show him some tough love and force him to earn his way to the business end of a grand slam it was surely now.

Clearly, though, the fates have taken pity on him and he now finds himself in the semi-finals having played just nine and a half sets of tennis. That says a lot about the level he’s on.

His build-up to the final Grand Slam of the year was hampered by a wrist injury, and he received treatment on his arm during both his first and fourth-round matches.

It has been an unusual tournament for Djokovic, who has played only two full matches. The two-time champion at Flushing Meadows held his serve to love with a stunning backhand down the line shot to go 3-1 up. It is the first time Monfils has reached the last-four of a Grand Slam, since the 2008 French Open.

Furthermore, Djokovic’s duel against Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open lasted five hours and 53 minutes.

In the victory, Djokovic won 83 percent of his first serve points and 57 percent of his second serve points.

Tsonga said when the pain came Tuesday, “I knew it was over for me straightaway”.