Gael Monfils produced a scintillating performance to reach the semi-finals of the Austrian Open on Friday, upsetting second seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
Hitting the ball with a flourish and chasing down every half-chance and converting many of them for winners, the eighth-seeded Frenchman was the more impressive player.
But there was some spectacular tennis from both competitors as Gonzalez also played a full part in a highly entertaining battle.
While Monfils impressed with his speed to the ball and excellent defense, Gonzalez used his immense strength to keep his opponent under pressure throughout the match. Both players held break point opportunities early in the match, before Monfils dominated the last three games of the opening set, breaking to love to lead 5-4 and surrendering just one point in the last three games.
Having failed to convert two break points in the first set, Gonzalez let another four escape before a netted forehand gave Monfils a break for 6-5. Gonzalez finally broke on his sixth break point to take the set to a tie-break, but that was dominated by Monfils, who won the first six points before double-faulting on his first match point.
A frustrated Gonzalez, who had several times tried in vain to smash his racket, finally succeeded in the tie-break, before netting a forehand on Monfils’ second match point.
“I’m happy because I played a tough game today. I was solid and very happy about my performance,” Monfils said. “First of all, I was focused from the first ball to the last. For me that was a big key. I tried to be aggressive and come forward and not let him use too much his forehand because it is very dangerous. During the last game I think he deserved to break me.”
An early break in each set put German Philipp Kohlschreiber on his way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over fifth seeded Fernando Verdasco, his third in four meetings with the Spaniard.
Kohlschreiber did not face a break point in the one-sided victory, that took just 67 minutes.
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