Monfils squeaks into Dubai quarterfinals
Greek sensation Stefanos Tsitsipas and French entertainer Gael Monfils overcame three-set battles to enter the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday.
Tsitsipas was given a run for his money by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz before the fifth seed competed a 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (1/7) 6-1 win after a marathon two-hour- 19 minute battle to set up a semifinal clash with Monfils.
The 20-year-old Tsitsipas, who announced his arrival on the biggest stage with a stunning run to the Australian Open final in January, won a tight first set in the tie-break.
The Greek then served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Hurkacz broke back and completely dominated his rival in the tiebreak to take the match into the third set. Tsitsipas, who won the Open 13 title in Marseille last Saturday, regained his rhythm in the decider with a 4-0 lead before completing his 14th win of the season to set up a mouth-watering semifinal clash with Monfils.
The 32-old Monfils was also pushed to the limit by Lithuanian qualifier Richard Berankis in Thursday’s first quarterfinal, but the Frenchman held his nerve in the final set to clinch a 6-1 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 win.
This is the third semifinal appearance of the year for Monfils who won the Rotterdam title couple of weeks ago. Having won the first set in emphatic style, Monfils was in control in the second set, serving for the match at 5-4. But Berankis, who won two rounds of qualifiers before
winning two more rounds in the main draw, broke back and took the match into the third set with solid play in the tie-break.
In the third set, the French entertainer was back to his best with his magical cross-court winners, getting two breaks of serve against the Lithuanian. And Berankis’s sixth double fault of the match in the eighth game of the third set gave Monfils his 12th win of the season.
“It was a tough match really. I was little bit upset that I couldn’t close the match in two sets and I have to give him credit also because he went for his shots and he was very brave at the net,” said Monfils.
The maverick Frenchman expects another tough battle against Tsitsipas in the semifinal.
“It’s going to be a tough game. I am going to do a good recovery,” he said.