U.S. Open Day 12 Preview: Four Men Battle For Spot in U.S. Open Final

September 9, 2016 | By Brian Coleman
Novak Djokovic (2)
Photo Credit: Sidney Beal III

Friday is another semifinal day at the U.S. Open, as four men battle for a spot in the final of the last major of 2016 later on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The first match up on Friday’s night session is world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic and the 10th seed Gael Monfils of France.

“He’s very charismatic. [He] plays with a smile and enjoys tennis; enjoys life,” Djokovic said of Monfils the other night. “This is—in my eyes—what everybody is supposed to be like, whether you’re a sportsman or whatever. Bring that smile; bring that good energy. That’s why people like him.

But also, he seems more focused at this time of his career. Especially on the hard court this year maybe he’s playing the best tennis he [has] ever played. He’s very consistent and hasn’t dropped a set into the semis. That says a lot of about the level he’s on. [I’m] definitely expecting a tough battle.”

Monfils has been the most impressive player of the four remaining on the men’s side. In his five matches thus far in Flushing Meadows, Monfils has steamrolled his competition, winning each match in straight sets with only one of those sets needing a tiebreaker.

But expect things to be different with Djokovic, whose lack of competition so far in this tournament leaves him fresh and gets his body ready, something he says was necessary following a few tough weeks for the Serb in mid-summer.


Credit photo to Garrett Ellwood/USTA/USOpen.org

Djokovic has dominated the head to head between these two, winning the last 12 meetings. In fact, the last time Monfils beat Djokovic it was on the Futures tour, when he outlasted Djokovic in three sets in Bergamo, Italy.

In fact, Djokovic has beaten Monfils twice at the U.S. Open, a five-set affair back in the 2005 first round and a routine three-set win in the 2010 quarterfinals.

“I remember, yeah, that was a tricky match actually,” Monfils said of that 2005 match. “With the roof [it] will be different, because it was taking a long time and I lost 7-5 in the fifth.”

Both players have come a long way since that match 11 years ago, and with Monfils red-hot play and Djokovic’s strange road to the semifinals, the first match on Ashe tonight should be a good one.

Following these two, two-time Grand Slam champion and third-seed Stan Wawrinka takes on 2014 U.S. Open finalist and sixth-seed Kei Nishikori in the other men’s singles semifinal.


Credit photo to Sidney Beal III

Both players are coming off of fairly emotionally and physically draining quarterfinal matches. Nishikori held his nerve and came back to defeat Andy Murray in a thrilling five-set match, and Wawrinka battled past the crowd to defeat Juan Martin del Potro in a match that ended after 1:00 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The two have met five times prior in their careers with Wawrinka holding a 3-2 edge in the head-to-head. But Nishikori got the better of Wawrinka in the best match between these two, a five-set battle at the 2014 U.S. Open quarterfinals, one of Nishikori’s three wins over top five seeds on his way to the final that year.

“It’s going to be interesting for sure. We played many times against each other. He beat me a few years ago here [in the] quarterfinals in five sets. He beat me in Toronto; I beat him in Australia,” Wawrinka said of Nishikori following the Swiss’ win over del Potro. “I saw him play today. He was playing really well. It’s going to be a tough match, for sure. We will see also how I’m going to feel physically in two days to get ready for that. But I’m ready for a match against Kei.”

Preceding both of these semifinals on Ashe today will be the Mixed Doubles final, featuring the seventh-seeded American duo of Coco Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram taking on the German-Croatian duo of Laura Siegemund and Mate Pavic.

Vandeweghe lost in the first round of singles to Japan’s Naomi Osaka, but has found success on the doubles court, something she never thought she would be playing.

“I take singles very seriously, and that’s what I want to be doing,” Vandeweghe told Sports Illustrated. “It’s quite funny—I don’t really even want to play doubles.”

In her first foray into doubles during the Australian Open earlier this year, she reached the quarterfinals in women’s doubles and the finals in mixed doubles. She has build on that success at the U.S. Open, reaching the semifinals in women’s doubles here with Martina Hingis, and playing today for a chance at a Grand Slam title in mixed doubles.

The American Collegiate Inviational continues today, and Long Island’s Julia Elbaba will look to build off of her win over third-seed Hayley Carter on Thursday. Elbaba, of the Virginia women’s tennis team, will take on Ronit Yurovsky in the semifinals this afternoon.

In the U.S. Open juniors, eighth-seed American Sofia Kenin, who actually played in the main draw this year, losing to now finalist Karolina Pliskova in the first round, will take on the top seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia in a quarterfinal showdown. In an all-American quarterfinal, fifth-seed Kayla Day, who won a match in the main draw this year, will play Carson Branstine.

Click Here to view the full schedule of play for Day 12 at the 2016 U.S. Open.


Brian Coleman

 Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com

Oneononedoubles banner art resize
USTA NTC

January/February 2024 Digital Edition