Courtesy: Google
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has defeated Gael Monfils in the Brisbane International round of 16 men’s singles clash at the Pat Rafter Arena, to advance through to the quarter-final stage. In his quest to win the 100th career title at the ATP level, Djokovic got the better of Monfils in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, to register his 20th career victory over the Frenchman, to book a clash against American Reilly Opelka in the next round.
In the first set, Novak Djokovic got only one break point opportunity, which he managed to take, to find himself in a 4-1 lead before serving out the set in 36 minutes with a 6-3 margin. Gael Monfils missed a forehand on his serve at 1-1 in the second set, allowing the Serbian to capitalise on the situation, breaking his serve early in the set to find himself in the ascendancy.
Novak Djokovic has beaten Gael Monfils for 12th straight time on ATP World Tour
After managing to hold onto his serve three times in a row from 2-1, Novak Djokovic broke the serve of Gael Monfils, to clinch the second set 6-3, and reach the quarter-final stage of the Brisbane International. In the next round, the 24-time Grand Slam champion will be playing against Reilly Opelka, who had to battle tooth-and-nail with Italian Matteo Arnaldi before beating him 7-6 (11-9), 7-6 (7-4) in straight sets.
In his first meeting against Reilly Opelka, Novak Djokovic is expected to win, owing to their massive difference in ranking, but the multi-time Australian Open champion won’t be taking his challenge lightly. He was quoted as saying about his opponent, as per BBC Sport, “Opelka has been injured and he struggled a lot for a couple of years. My gosh, I'm going to have to probably step back a few steps for that first serve.”
