Novak Djokovic is back to playing really good tennis as the Serbian downed Gael Monfils for the 19th time in his career at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
Monfils and Djokovic played 18 times before this match, and Djokovic won every single match. It's been an incredibly dominant run from the Serbian, who simply knows how to play Monfils. Djokovic was quite excited about this one, probably more than Monfils. The French veteran never found a solution for what Djokovic does well, and there is a bit of a mental component as well.
Today's match wasn't a great one from Monfils, quite a bit below what he played recently, and that's the Djokovic effect. Novak was also pretty well, showing sturdiness from the baseline and good attacking play at times.
The first set saw no breaks in the first three games, but then Djokovic applied more pressure, and Monfils immediately crumbled. The Serbian was utterly spectacular on his own serve, hardly losing any points. Monfils knew that he needed to attack in order to win but was a bit too erratic, with seven unforced errors.
The second set opened with an early break for Djokovic, just the way he likes it. He was quite aggressive at this stage of the match, really taking the initiative in rallies. Monfils didn't stray away from his game plan and was a bit more precise in the first two games but then badly missed a couple of times, and the score was 3-0.
The huge problem for Monfils was the inability to win a point after his second serve. He was dreadful because Djokovic easily outplayed him in most rallies that started on 'neutral ground.' Take away the advantage of a powerful first serve, and it was pretty much game over.
The final score ended up being 6-3 6-2 for Djokovic, who will face Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals.
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