The great adventure of Gaël Monfils suddenly came to an end in the round of 16 in Cincinnati. The French ran into a wall, Novak Djokovic, who won his 19th victory against the French (6-3, 6-2) in as many confrontations on the professional circuit. The “Monf” could not do anything against the dominating Serb in all areas of the game and especially in the rallies from the bottom of the court.
“We played each other in different parts of the world, also in the juniors,” Djokovic said. “At first, I struggled with him physically. We haven’t played for several years. It’s great to see him play at a high level again, “said the former world number 1 who will face Taylor Fritz for a place in the last four.
There will still be a Frenchman in the quarter-finals. Currently on a cloud and playing his best tennis in months, Adrian Mannarino benefited from the abandonment of Mackenzie McDonald in the second set after pocketing the first easily and making the break in the second (6-4, 3-0) . The native of Soisy-Sous-Montmorency, who celebrated his 35th birthday in June, will enter the world Top 30 at the end of the tournament. A big piece awaits him in the quarters, Alexander Zverev, solid against Daniil Medvedev (6-4, 5-7, 6-4). But he has the game to destabilize the German.
World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz struggled to get past one of the hottest men on the circuit right now, American Tommy Paul (7-6, 6-7, 6-3) at the from a match interrupted by the rain several times and which ignited the center court. “It was a really tough match,” said the Spaniard before adding. “I’m really, really happy with the level and I think I’m getting better and better.” Next opponent, Max Purcell who released a Stan Wawrinka from bad days (6-4, 6-2).
2nd round (men’s singles):
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) beats Nicolás Jarry (CHI) (forfeited)
3rd round (men’s singles):
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/N.1) beat Tommy Paul (USA/N.14) 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (0/7), 6-3 Max Purcell (AUS) beat Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-4, 6-2 Hubert Hurkacz (POL) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/N.4) 6-3, 6-4 Alexei Popy (AUS) beat Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 Adrian Mannarino (FRA) against Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-4, 3-0 (abandon) Alexander Zverev (GER/N.16) beat Daniil Medvedev (RUS/N.3) 6-4, 57, 6-4 Taylor Fritz ( USA/N.9) beat Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 5-0 (abandon) Novak Djokovic (SRB/N.2) beat Gaël Monfils (FRA) 6-3, 6-2
