(Tennis news) On Thursday at the Western & Southern Open, the Serbian elevated his control over the contest into legendary status. Djokovic broke a tie with Rafael Nadal, who is 18-0 versus Richard Gasquet, by winning 6-3, 6-2 to take the lead in Lexus ATP Head-to-Head matches with the most wins without a loss.

“It was kind of an evolution of both players over the past 15-plus years that we’ve been playing 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. When you play on of the most athletic guys on the Tour, you have to be ready, every ball comes back. A couple of points today, especially in the first set he showed his athleticism.”

The World No. 2 defeated Monfils in two straight sets after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina’s exit in the second set gave Djokovic the lead in his first match on American soil since 2021. The victory took one hour and eight minutes. Djokovic remained on track for a potential rematch with the World No. 1 Spaniard in the championship round after winning his first match since falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

Djokovic is going for his third Cincinnati championship and is at 17-1 on hard courts this year. A Career Golden Masters was added to his collection of trophies at the ATP Masters 1000 after he won the Western & Southern Open for the first time in 2018. In 2020, when the competition was conducted in New York, he won again.

Monfils, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the Toronto Open last week, aimed to get to the same stage of a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2016 (Indian Wells, Miami). Following his upset of Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto, the Frenchman was also barred from winning a second Top 4 match in as many weeks.

From 3-3 in the opening set, Djokovic took control of the Cincinnati centre court. The Serbian took advantage of Monfils’ sloppy serving to break at love for a 5-3 lead. She then went through the gears, winning eight straight games to take a 5-0 lead in set two. To prevent a bagel second set, Monfils saved his first break point of the evening, but Djokovic was flawless on his second chance to serve out the victory.

“I just managed to hold my serve really comfortably. I think I was hitting the spots well, and just made him play,” said Djokovic, who stressed the importance of serving well in the quick Cincinnati conditions. “He made a few unforced errors at 4-3 in the first set to hand me the break. After that it was no looking back for me. I started to raise the level more and more, almost a flawless second set. I guess his game suits me. It’s nice to see him back. We haven’t played for quite a few years. It’s great to see him back playing at a high level.”

Taylor Fritz, a fan favourite at home who advanced to the quarterfinals when Laslo Djere resigned with a 0-5 deficit in their Thursday match, will be Djokovic’s next opponent. With eight of those matches taking place on hard courts, the American has advanced to his second consecutive Cincinnati quarterfinal and 12th overall this season. In his seventh Lexus ATP Head2Head matchup against Djokovic, who has won all six of their previous meetings, he will bring a 31-8 record on hard courts this season.

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