Gael Monfils tried again – and it didn’t work again: The French tennis player faced the Herculean task for the 19th time against Novak Djokovic and lost to the Serbian Grand Slam record champion for the 19th time. At the ATP Masters in Cincinnati, the world number two from Belgrade won the duel of the 36-year-olds in the round of 16 6: 3, 6: 2.
“I suppose his game suits me,” Djokovic said afterwards: “It’s nice to see him again. We haven’t played against each other for a few years. It’s great to see him at a high level again.” Monfils, former number six in the world, had recently slowed down injuries again and again. The unequal rivals played their first duel in 2005 at the US Open.
In Cincinnati, Djokovic now meets American Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals on Saturday night. US Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz is still in contention and managed a three-set win against American Tommy Paul. The same applies to Alexander Zverev (Hamburg), who defeated his rival Daniil Medvedev (Russia).