Nineteen Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings. Nineteen wins for Novak Djokovic against Gael Monfils.
The Serbian extended his dominance of the competition into historic territory on Thursday at the Western & Southern Open. After his 6-3, 6-2 victory, Djokovic now owns the most wins without a loss in any Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup — breaking the tie of Rafael Nadal, who is 18-0 against Richard Gasquet.
“It’s kind of an evolution of the two players in the last 15-plus years that we’ve played each other in different parts of the world, also in juniors,” Djokovic said of their history. “I think early on I struggled a lot with him, I think physically as well. in the first set he showed his athleticism.”
After Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s second-set retirement gave Djokovic a win in his first match on American soil since 2021, World No. 2 played two solid sets to dispatch Monfils, dominating baseline rallies for one hour, eight minutes. victory. With the victory in his first completed match since he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, Djokovic remains on course for a potential rematch with the World No. 1 Spaniard in the title round.
Now 17-1 on hard courts this season, Djokovic is aiming for his third title in Cincinnati. His first Western & Southern Open crown in 2018 earned him a Career Golden Masters, completing his box set of ATP Masters 1000 trophies. He repeated as champion in 2020, when the event was held in New York.
Monfils, who reached the quarter-finals in Toronto last week, is looking to make back-to-back runs at this stage of the Masters 1000s for the first time since 2016 (Indian Wells, Miami). The Frenchman was also denied a second Top 4 win in as many weeks, following his upset by Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto.
Djokovic took over the Cincinnati center court from 3-3 in the first set. The Serbian took advantage of a loose service game from Monfils to break to love for 5-3, then went on to win eight straight games and build a 5-0 lead in set two. Monfils earned his first break point of the night to avoid a bagel second set, but Djokovic made no mistake on his second attempt to serve for the win.
“I was able to hold my serve very comfortably. I think I hit the spots well, and just let him play,” said Djokovic, who emphasized the importance of serving well in the quick conditions in Cincinnati. . “He made some unforced errors at 4-3 in the first set to give me the break. After that it didn’t look back on me. The game suited me. It was good to see him back. We haven’t played in a while years. It’s great to see him play at a high level.”
Next to Djokovic is home favorite Taylor Fritz, who advanced to the quarters when Laslo Djere retired while trailing 0-5 in their meeting last Thursday. The American reached his second straight quarter-final in Cincinnati and his 12th overall this season, including eight on hard courts. He will bring a 31-8 hard-court record this season into his seventh Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Djokovic, who has won all six of their encounters.