The French, last tricolor representative in the tournament, lost after an epic match: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
There are no more French on the courts of Flushing Meadows. Gael Monfils, 13e World Player, was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the US Open, Wednesday, September 4, by Matteo Berrettini (24e), in five sets: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).
"It was hard, I fought as much as I could, but I had too many problems at the service"commented Gael Monfils, who indeed made seventeen double faults throughout the match. "I know how to bounce back, I've already had some rough times like this here", he added, assuring that he was going "Pull the positive from these two weeks" New York.
For, even defeated, he was at his best in Flushing Meadows, especially on the physical side – after a season where injuries forced him to many drops or loses. He had been forfeited before his quarter-final at the Masters 1000 Indian Wells, still before his semifinal at the Masters 1000 in Montreal, then the first round at Wimbledon, and even before the start of the tournament in Miami, Monte-Carlo. Carlo and Washington. But for the US Open, he returned in great form in New York, as evidenced by his opponent Wednesday.
MONFILS 😳🔥 #HomeOfTennis #USOpen https://t.co/NPwZoatzei
"What a fight! " launched Matteo Berrettini at the end of the three hours and fifty-seven minutes of showdown. "I do not remember any point … only the match ball. And double mistakes, I've done too much ", he added, referring in particular to the one that ruined a match point while he led 5-3 in the last set. Monfils, 33, has also done his service late in the wake and saved two more match points to 6-5, including one he had offered on a double fault.
"The most beautiful match I've seen"
"When I played, I thought it was the best game I saw, even though I was playing it! ", said the one who will be the second transalpine player to play in a Grand Slam semifinal, after Corrado Barazzutti in 1977 at the US Open. "I was lucky that (Gaël) did not have a match point," added the Italian who concluded on his fifth match point.
In the next round, the Italian will face Spain's Rafael Nadal (2e), which took nearly three hours to beat Argentine Diego Schwartzman (20e): 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
In the women's draw, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, who returned to the highest level after an operation in 2017, qualified for her first Grand Slam semifinal by eliminating Croatia's Donna Vekic (23).e) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3. She will face 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu for a place in the final, who pushed aside Belgium's Elise Mertens (25).e) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
