WINSTON-SALEM, United States, Aug 23 AFP – Gael Monfils shrugged off pain in his left hip to reach his second ATP final of the season on Friday at the Winston-Salem Open.
The French 15th seed defeated 10th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 to advance to the title match of this US Open tuneup, where he’ll face either sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey or ninth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
Querrey, who has yet to reach a final this year, has won both prior career meetings with Melzer, a veteran left-hander who was runner-up in Zagreb in February.
Monfils called for the trainer after just 11 minutes on court, having surrendered two breaks of serve to trail 0-3.
But after a consultation and on-court treatment, he changed his attitude and got on with the job of mounting a comeback.
“I had thigh muscle pain which was going to my hip. The trainer told me I was just tight,” Monfils said.
“When we resumed I told myself to focus on the match, not the pain.
“OK, I have some pain but it’s no reason not to play tough. I just needed to focus less on my body.
“I tried to keep it simple and it worked,” added Monfils. “I needed to get my rhythm back.”
Monfils kept the pressure on Dolgopolov, who faced 13 break points in the contest.
In the first set, the Ukrainian double-faulted to lose the sixth game for 4-2 and then found himself at 5-all after saving one break point but then netting a backhand on another.
In the tiebreaker, Monfils saved three set points and won the opener on his own second chance.
Monfils, competing on hard courts for the first time this month after missing the Masters events in Montreal and Cincinnati with an ankle injury, took control in the second set.
He broke Dolgopolov for a 2-1 lead on another double-fault from the Ukrainian.
Monfils broke again in the final game of the match, converting his second match point to seal the win in 97 minutes.
The victory was Monfils’ second over Dolgopolov this year. He also won their Australian Open first-round meeting.
Monfils, runner-up at the claycourt tournament in Nice in May, will be seeking a fifth career title on Saturday.