Continuing his bounce-back tournament from an injury-riddled stretch, Gael Monfils met Alexander Zverev in the semifinals of the Citi Open. The Washington DC crowd was given quite a treat as the player nicknamed La Monf put on quite a dominant performance. His serves continued to be his main weapon—with ten aces on the match—but it was his varied attack that really baffled and frustrated his young German opponent. In a match lasting exactly an hour, the Frenchman delivered a straight sets bludgeoning, 6-4, 6-0.
Monfils strikes early
It didn't take long for the match to see its first break points. Monfils won three of the first four points on Zverev’s serve to take a 15-40 lead. Those two break points gave the Frenchman plenty to work with as he broke at 30. He consolidated the break with a hold at 30, and after just seven minutes, Monfils had a 2-0 lead. Zverev responded with a commanding hold at 15 and a very strong return game; however, it wasn't strong enough. The German youngster had two break points of his own at 15-40, but a four-point run from the second seed kept his opponent from leveling the score. Finding more break points would become a near-impossible task for the rest of the match.
After a hold at 30 from Zverev, the scoreboard read 30-15 in the sixth game, and the rain began to pour. A stoppage of play was in order; meanwhile the 29-year-old had tallied four aces through some dominant service games. The delay lasted just ten minutes, and play resumed with a hold at 30 from Monfils. Down 2-4, the 19-year-old wonderkid traded holds at 15 with his French adversary to bring the set score to 5-4. Serving for the set proved to be a difficult task for Monfils; he had two set points at 40-15 and another after a deuce, but unforced errors and a forehand winner from Zverev saved them. Fourth time was the charm as a forehand into the net from the world number 27 ended the set, 6-4, after 38 minutes of action.
Statistically, the two players played almost identically. Even the number of winners was the same. The only major difference was Monfils' higher ace tally (six to three) and his ability to convert on one of his two break points. However, so much in tennis relies on the ability to grab a break and ride out the set.
Zverev served third bagel of year
Living up to his mantra of being a one-man show, Monfils opened the second set with a jumping forehand at the center of the court to set up an easy angled volley; he then pressured Zverev into a string of errors. At 15-40, the seventh seed slapped a backhand into the net to give up an early break in the second set.
Talk about déjà vu from the first set. One more hold from Monfils was in order, and another 0-2 deficit faced the German youngster, whom struggled to stay on his feet in that second game. His composure continued to derail, and he was broken again at 15. The double-break lead all but set up his trip to the finals. Holding in the next game wouldn't be much of a challenge; giving up just two points in the game, Monfils took a 4-0 lead. The bagel was beginning to take shape.
The Frenchman—with a variety of shots—jumped out to a 0-40 lead. Three break points faced Zverev, and he saved two with a pair of phenomenal winners. That glimmer of hope was snubbed as the 19-year-old drove a forehand long. At 5-0, bagel watch was in full effect. An ace out wide brought Monfils within three points of victory; a crushed forehand winner made it two; an unreturned serve made it one; and an ace down the T finished cooking the bagel to perfection--a hold at love. This is the third time Zverev has taken a 6-0 bagel in a set in 2016.
The semifinal victory increases Monfils' win streak against Germans to twelve in a row with his last loss coming against Florian Mayer over three years ago. Along with the streak, the Frenchman will advance to play Ivo Karlovic—whom defeated Steve Johnson, 6-4, 6-4—in the final of the Citi Open. Monfils, who has taken out the Croatian three times in five meetings, will look to claim his first title in an ATP World Tour 500 event. It will be his 25th career appearance in an ATP final.