Monfils defeats Gasquet in battle of French musketeers
Published:Gael Monfils reached the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time in his career with victory over fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet at Flushing Meadows.
Monfils won 6-4 7-5 7-5 in two hours and 35 minutes, but Gasquet must have been wondering how he failed to take the match into at least a fourth set.
Gasquet served for the third set at 5-3 only to lose his serve, his racket then feeling the brunt of his anger at the change of ends as he kicked it down the court.
The unseeded 24-year-old then held two set points on Monfils’ serve in the next game but was unable to take advantage, and this time Monfils made him pay.
The 17th seed immediately broke for a 6-5 lead and served out for the match, clinching the win with his 14th ace.
“It’s not that easy to play when we are very good friends,” Monfils said, “He played very good today. I was a little better than him but I hope we will have more matches like this.
“For me it’s amazing to be in the quarter-finals. I love playing here, I feel comfortable and I hope I can win here one day maybe.”
A slight underdog going into the match, Monfils is now 40/1 to win the US Open.
Monfils will face Novak Djokovic for a place in the semi-finals and the Serb has looked in impressive form, none more so than with his straight sets victory over Mardy Fish, and is 1/4 to progress.
The Frenchman is winless against Djokovic in four attempts and is available at 11/4, but the matches are usually tight and Djokovic is 11/2 to win in five sets whilst Monfils is 8/1.
Djokovic is the underdog compared to Federer and Nadal and is a decent price at 7/1 to win the tournament. See the full US Open tennis betting market here.
