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Russian to meet Monfils, winner over Dzumhur

Danill Medvedev extended his fine form on Friday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament by breaking the seven-match winning streak of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who also picked up an ATP Tour title last week. The fifth-seeded Russian proved too consistent for the 2017 Rotterdam champion, who is on the comeback trail from a left knee injury, in a 6-4, 6-2 victory over one hour and 32 minutes for a place in the semi-finals.

Medvedev, who captured his fourth ATP Tour title last week at the Sofia Open and is now seven matches unbeaten, will next look to overcome another Frenchman, 2016 finalist Gael Monfils. Medvedev, a winner of 14 of 16 matches this season, beat Monfils 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday in Sofia.

“It feels a little bit strange, as I didn’t think I played that well,” said Medvedev. “But I managed to work hard. I don’t think Jo was happy with his level either, as we’ve both played a lot of matches. I think the match against Gael will be different [than in Sofia], the conditions will be better for him here. I will need to fight.”

The 22-year-old, who had beaten Tsonga 6-2, 7-5 last month in the Brisbane International semi-finals, broke his opponent in the first game. Tsonga saved four break points at 2-4, but could not force an opening and Medvedev wrapped up the 50-minute set when Tsonga struck a forehand into the net.

Tsonga raised his level of play early in the second set, but was unable to capitalise as Medvedev absorbed the pressure and then broke to love for a 3-2 advantage when his opponent double faulted. Tsonga’s resistance was broken when he struck a forehand into the net at 2-4 and Medvedev went on to close out victory.

Tsonga, who won his 17th ATP Tour crown last week at the Open Sud de France (d. Herbert), is now 11-3 on the season.

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Monfils extended his run of form by reaching an ATP Tour semi-final for the second consecutive week with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 70 minutes . “It was a good one,” said former World No. 6 Monfils. “I stuck to my game plan and I am satisfied how I executed. I prepared well in the off-season and I am starting to believe that I can get back to the top of the game.”


Dictating with his forehand, 2016 Rotterdam finalist Monfils upped the ante on Dzumhur's serve in the fourth game of the first set, and the Frenchman earned a second break for a 5-1 lead when Dzumhur mis-timed a drop shot. Monfils wrapped up the 38-minute opener when Dzumhur struck a backhand volley wide.

A lapse in concentration, on a forehand volley, cost Dzumhur the first game of the second set, as Monfils ripped a forehand winner past him. Dzumhur’s level improved and a wild fourth game saw Monfils lose his advantage, but the World No. 33 immediately regrouped at 2-2 and went on to complete his seventh win in nine matches in 2019. Monfils also beat Dzumhur 6-0, 6-4, 6-0 in the Australian Open first round last month.

Frenchman will meet Nishikori or Wawrinka in Sunday's final

Seven days after falling to Daniil Medvedev in the Sofia Open semi-finals, Gael Monfils defeated the Russian 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his second ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final on Saturday.

The 2016 runner-up (l. to Klizan) fired 29 winners to record his 15th win in 22 matches at the opening ATP 500 event of the season after two hours and eight minutes. Monfils improves to 8-2 this season and will be aiming to capture his first ATP Tour trophy since lifting the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title (d. Rublev) in January 2018.

"It was very tough. Tactically I think I played good and physically I was tough, I was happy that I could handle it physically," said Monfils. "My game plan was definitely to make him play a lot of balls and at the end I think it paid off. I was very happy because I kept the aggressive spirit at the end and I think that is why I won today."


Monfils will meet top seed Kei Nishikori or Stan Wawrinka for the title on Sunday. The 32-year-old trails Nishikori 1-4 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and has triumphed in two of five FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Wawrinka.

"It will be a tough match [against] Stan or Kei," said Monfils. "[They are] two unbelievable players. Different, but unbelievable. I have had tough battles with both, I expect a tough match tomorrow."

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In a series of marathon rallies, Medvedev and Monfils opened the court and mixed the pace well to entertain the crowd in the opening stages. At 2-2, Medvedev capitalised on back-to-back errors from Monfils to claim the first break and, despite surrendering his advantage, the Russian clinched the first set with back-to-back games from 4-4. With comfort on his backhand side, Medvedev proved the more consistent player in extended rallies to extract crucial errors from his opponent.

Monfils began to increase his aggression in the second set, hitting through his forehand and moving up the court to gain a 2-0 lead. The Frenchman may have gifted Medvedev a route back into the set with consecutive double faults at 3-1 (30/30), but Monfils hit through the court on his backhand to regain his break advantage and soon levelled the match with a powerful serve out wide.

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After trading breaks early in the deciding set, Monfils earned two break points at 4-4 with an imaginative drop shot, before clinching the break with an aggressive approach to Medvedev's forehand. Once again, Monfils moved to the net to earn two match points and then booked his place in the final after dragging Medvedev off the court with an angled backhand approach.

Medvedev was bidding to reach his seventh ATP Tour final (4-2) after lifting his fourth tour-level trophy at the Sofia Open last week (d. Fucsovics). The 23-year-old Russian leads the ATP Tour with 14 tour-level victories (14-3) this season.

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Monfils ended a streak of 15 consecutive sets won by Medvedev to take the match to a deciding set. The last man to win a set against Medvedev prior to Monfils was Robin Haase, who led the Russian by a set in the Sofia Open Round of 16 last week.

Frenchman plays with great focus to overcome mid-match letdown

Gael Monfils battled hard to lift his first ATP Tour trophy for 13 months on Sunday at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. The Frenchman went one better than his 2016 final run (l. to Klizan) by beating Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in one hour and 44 minutes in front of a capacity 15,000-strong crowd at the Rotterdam Ahoy.

“We have been practising all winter together, and really for the past 14 years too," said Monfils. "In these matches, it’s tricky to surprise the other. I was a bit tougher than him in the third set and changed the rhythm, as I felt he was playing heavy in the second set and I felt like I couldn’t handle it. I had to break his momentum. I had to be more aggressive and sneak in some serve and volley tennis.

“In the second set, I felt like I was pushing back physically and not striking cleanly. I was stressed and angry, but I had to think about it and in the third game of the decider, I took my chance and gained energy.”

The 32-year-old, who beat Andrey Rublev in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final in January 2018 and is now 8-21 lifetime in ATP Tour finals, earned 500 ATP Rankings points and €405,030 in prize money. It was the first Rotterdam championship match between two unseeded players since 2008, when Michael Llodra defeated Robin Soderling.

Monfils competed with great focus in the first set, hanging tough in long rallies and reaping dividends at the net. Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, struggled to punch holes in the Frenchman’s armoury and handed Monfils the first break at 1-1 with a forehand error. Monfils twice came within one point of a 4-1 lead, but needed to bide his time for a second service break. Monfils got the better of Wawrinka in the physical battle, sealing the 36-minute set when Wawrinka struck a low backhand volley into the net.

Wawrinka turned up the heat in the second set, working hard to convert his fifth break point opportunity of the first game with a smash winner. The Swiss wild card’s winner count continued to increase and at 4-0, Monfils exhibited the first signs of exhaustion. With his service speed declining, Monfils’ movement was impaired and he struck a forehand long to hand the second set to Wawrinka.

By the third game of the decider, Monfils was firing on all cylinders once more and broke Wawrinka’s serve. At 4-2, Monfils was fighting under extreme pressure, but regularly forced Wawrinka to play an extra shot and earned the decisive break. At the end of a highly entertaining final, Monfils was delighted to be able to follow in the footsteps of one of his idols, Arthur Ashe, the 1975 and 1976 Rotterdam champion.

The 33-year-old Wawrinka, who was appearing in his first tour-level final since June 2017 at Roland Garros (l. to Nadal), is now 16-13 in finals. He captured his 16th tour-level trophy on 27 May 2017 at the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open, four months before undergoing left knee surgery. Wawrinka earns 300 ATP Rankings points and €203,420 in prize money with his runner-up finish in Rotterdam.

“We know each other really well, as we’ve practised a lot in the off-season and before [the recent tournament in] Sofia,” said Wawrinka. “It was a tough final and Gael played really well. He did what he had to do at the right moments. I was struggling with my footwork at times to be more aggressive on my groundstrokes. That’s what made the difference.

“It’s great to have been back in the final, but also how I played to get there. I played a good match and good level today, but it’s great to see the level is there across a full week. I have to keep doing what I’ve been doing over the past few months: working hard off the court, playing matches and building my confidence.”