Novak Djokovic was almost merciless in performing his 19th slaying of Gael Monfils in the Western and Southern Open Round of 16 in Cincinnati 63 62, seemingly sacrificing two games from a 63 50 lead. Djokovic now has beaten the Frenchman all 19 times they’ve played.
After the match Djokovic shared some details about the process of establishing tennis supremacy over Monfils. “It was kind of an evolution of both players over the past 15-plus years that we’ve been playing each other in different parts of the world, also in juniors. I think early on I struggled a lot with him, I think physically as well. When you play one of the most athletic guys on the Tour, you have to be ready, every ball comes back. A couple of points today, especially in the first set he showed his athleticism.”
Monfils actually beat Djokovic in their first ATP match at a Futures in Italy in 2004, 64 67 62. Then they played again in the first round at the 2005 US Open – their first official ATP main tour duel – and Djokovic solved the Monfils puzzle in an epic afternoon marathon, 75 46 76 06 75. In that match, which I viewed live, Djokovic was behind in the final set and needed two injury timeouts to obtain the astoundingly impressive victory.
The closest Monfils ever came to defeating Djokovic was in the final of 2009 Paris Indoors where he lost the third set tiebreaker 7-3.
Also in 2014, at Canadian Masters QF, Monfils extended Djokovic to a third set tiebreaker but was conquered 7-2.
The 19-0 mark is now another ATP record for Djokovic, surpassing the 18-0 head to head mastery Rafael Nadal accomplished vs. Richard Gasquet.
Another notable head to head record is Bjorn Borg’s 17-0 domination of Vitas Gerulaitis.
And also perhaps the most celebrated head to head rivalry worth noting is Jimmy Connors famously owning a 16-1 record vs Vitas Gerulaitis (16 in a row after Vitas won their first meeting at 1972 US Open) until Jimbo lost at 1979 Masters semifinals at Madison Square Garden 75 62. Vitas then won the next four matches vs. Connors, including a five setter at 1980 Roland Garros semis. Connors won their final two matches at 1983 Wembley and 1984 Montreal by identical 64 62 scores.
After beating Connors at 1979 Masters, Vitas quipped to the media one of the most famous one-liners in sports history: “Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis seventeen times in a row.”
Cincy Open · Gael Monfils · Novak Djokovic · Western & SouthernOpen
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