U.S. Open Day 11 Preview: Federer-Monfils Headline Two Men’s Quarterfinal Matches
With Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova’s victories on Wednesday, the final four in the women’s singles draw is all set, but there are still two open spots in the men’s semifinals, which will be decided Thursday, as four men will take to the court in Flushing Meadows in hopes of advancing.
Roger Federer headlines the day’s action under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the five-time champion takes on 20th seeded Gael Monfils of France. In one of the most intriguing matches of the tournament, the charismatic Monfils will look to upend the heavily favored Swiss, who has an all-time record of 71-9 on U.S. Open courts.
Federer leads the head-to-head matchup, winning seven of the nine matches the two have played against each other. The last two matches between the two were played on hard courts, with Monfils winning one of those in China back in 2013.
The Frenchman has reached only one Grand Slam semifinal in his career, reaching the final four at Roland Garros in 2008. If he were to pull off the upset and knock out Federer, he would become the first player ranked outside the top 20 to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since 56th ranked Mikhail Youzhny did it in 2006.
The key to the match will be how well each player returns. Both Federer and Monfils have been nearly automatic with their serves so far this tournament, as the Swiss has won 53 of 59 service games, while the Frenchman has won 54 of his 59 service games. Monfils has converted half of his break points this tournament, and will have a chance if he has to be to neutralize the Federer serve.
The winner will be moving on to play the victor between this afternoon’s match, also at Ashe, between the sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and 14th-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic.
The seventh-ranked Czech is 5-3 all-time versus Cilic, but the Croatian won the most recent meeting, a straight-set victory in the Round of 32 at Wimbledon. The two have played four hard court matches against each other in their careers, with Berdych seizing three of those.
This is the third quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open for Cilic, and if Berdych can get past the Croat, it may bode well for him. In Cilic’s previous two quarterfinal matches at Flushing Meadows, he lost at this stage to the eventual champion both times, Juan Martin del Potro in 2009 and Andy Murray in 2012.
While there are just two singles matches scheduled for Day 11 action, there is doubles action as well, as the Bryan Brothers look to move within one win of their 100th career title together.
The American twins will play another set of Americans, Rajeev Ram & Merrick, N.Y.’s Scott Lipsky, for a spot in the finals. The Bryans have defeated Ram & Lipsky in both meetings between the two pairs, and a third victory would mean the chance to play for their fifth career U.S. Open Championship. This is the first Grand Slam semifinal appearance for Ram & Lipsky.
Click here for the complete schedule of Day 11 action at the U.S. Open.
