Gael Monfils met Marcos Baghdatis for the fourth time in their respective careers in the fourth round of the 2016 U.S. Open. The match featured some thrilling tennis from both competitors, but it was the Frenchman who emerged victorious. After one hour and 59 minutes, Monfils took a straight sets victory, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Monfils survives slowed pace from Baghdatis
After opening the match with three straight points and some big serving, Monfils was given a bit of a scare in his opening service game; Baghdatis was able to climb back to deuce, but couldn’t find a break point as his opponent held serve two points later. When the players changed sides, it was the Cypriot who was given the scare when at 30-30 he slapped a forehand into the net--giving the match its first break point. A long rally ended with Monfils carrying a forehand long, and Baghdatis was out of the woods for the moment. Becoming a theme, a pair of long rallies ended in the world number 44’s favor, and he, too, held after a single deuce.
The fourth game was the first of the match to end without a deuce as Baghdatis, who began moving forward with some consistency, held at 15. In the next game, the door was opened for the Cypriot; Monfils missed a drop shot into the net at 30-30 but was able to shut the door quick with a 124 mph ace out wide. Two deuces later, the Frenchman finally held, and the match remained on serve, 3-2.
After nearly breaking serve, Baghdatis missed a sliced backhand out wide at 15-30 to give his opponent double break point. Using another long rally--25 shots--the 31-year-old was able to coax Monfils into a timely error to erase one of the break points. A 28-shot rally on the second break point wouldn’t go as well as the one prior for Baghdatis, and he was broken on a shot into the net.
With a 4-2 lead, Monfils consolidated the break at deuce. That grew his lead to 5-2--one game away from winning the set. Baghdatis was able to hold at 30 to extend the set one more game, but that would be as much as he could do in this one. With a hold at 30 that ended on two aces, Monfils took the first set, 6-3, after 44 minutes of play.
Monfils gets through early adversity to dominate second set
The second set could not have began much better for Monfils; some hustle from the Frenchman coupled with a string of poor decisions from Baghdatis opened the set with a break at love. The hot beginning quickly did a 180, though. At deuce on his first service game, the 30-year-old faulted on four straight serves to double-fault the game away. The topsy-turvy set once again changed hands as Monfils found his way to another triple break point. Unable to save more than one break point, Baghdatis was broken again for the set’s third straight break.
A wave of normality finally came over the set as the fourth game saw the first hold. Undeterred, Monfils consolidated the break with a hold at 15 to take a 3-1 lead. That lead continued to grow as the Frenchman broke again at 15, and it appeared he would begin putting nails in the coffin of Baghdatis’ U.S. Open run.
Up two breaks, Monfils wasn’t far from winning the second set; a clean hold at 15 from the world number twelve brought the set score to 5-1. The two competitors served out the set, and Monfils took it, 6-2.
At this point, the Frenchman was dominating the serving battle. A seven to zero advantage in aces favored him, while his opponent won just six points on serve in the set.
Monfils finishes strong
Baghdatis--beginning to pick up his play--opened the third set with a strong hold at love. In the next game, the Cypriot benefitted from Monfils losing his footing at 30-30 to get a break point. That point would go his way, and the world number 44 lead, 2-0.
Consolidating the break would prove to be a daunting task for Baghdatis; Monfils responded to being broken by jumping out to a 15-40 lead. One break point was saved, but the second ended with a Baghdatis backhand that couldn’t get over the net. With the break back, the match was back on serve--favoring the Cypriot, 2-1.
Three deuces into Monfils’ second service game, the Frenchman slapped a backhand into the net--giving his opponent a chance to break. However, a tricky drop shot saved that one. Baghdatis would see one more break point and a total of eight deuces, but after an eleven-minute game, Monfils held to level the set score at two-apiece.
At 15-30 in Baghdatis’ next service game, the 31-year-old slapped a forehand into the net to bring double break point upon himself. One more forehand error into the net would give up the break, and the rest of the match would be smooth sailing for his French opponent.
Monfils held at love to consolidate the break, and a 4-2 lead would pave the way to the quarterfinals. The two competitors traded holds in the next two games before the 30-year-old relinquished one final break at 30--ending the set, 6-3, and the match.
With a straight set victory, Monfils will move on to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open where he will meet the winner of Rafael Nadal vs. Lucas Pouille. The Frenchman has only won two matches against Nadal in fourteens tries and is undefeated in one meeting with Pouille.