Ranked Djokovic beats Monfils to reach Toronto final

Meanwhile, in the corresponding women’s tournament played in Montreal, Simona Halep defeated Madison Keys 7-6 6-3 in a rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal.

In the other 2016 Rogers Cup men’s final, the doubles team of Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo win their first championship of the year in their second final appearance.

That is how much pressure has been on Djokovic over the last two years, and its obvious that going for the calendar year grand slam took it out of him mentally and physically.

Djokovic shifts his focus to the Olympic Games in Rio as he goes for his first gold medal.

Top-seeded Djokovic dismantled Monfils 6-3, 6-2, ending the Frenchman’s nine-match win streak and earning a spot in the final.

Novak Djokovic has played Gael Monfils twelve times in his pro career. “If everyone in the stands would hug the person next to them – and I promise I will participate too”, Djokovic said in the trophy presentation. “Today it wasn’t to be but I won in straight sets”.

Still, it was not an easy match against Nishikori.

For the first time in months, Djokovic actually got to take a lot of time off, and it allowed him to shut his tennis brain down.

After his loss, Nishikori tried to remain upbeat about his performance against Djokovic and during the week in Toronto.

Djokovic’s positive attitude is a key input to his holistic view of his tennis.

Nishikori told the ATP Tour’s website afterwards: “He was hitting very good serves and was very aggressive until the 5-3 game”. Even the best are human when we least expect it. Serena Williams at the 2015 U.S. Open is another great example. The Japanese player now has 40 wins this season.

However, Djokovic had to dig deep during a spirited back and forth in the final stages of the hardcourt match before eventually overcoming Nishikori, who is ranked sixth in the world.

Monfils won two of his first three games Saturday night before Djokovic seized the momentum in a match characterized by long baseline rallies and unforced errors.

Nishikori took advantage of a fade in form from Stan Wawrinka as Asia’s top player reached the title match with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-1 win. He put several shots into the net then returned the ball high and wide to give Djokovic a 5-2 lead.

The mighty Serb came into this final on a 50-4 winning run, 32-1 on hard courts, having already won the Doha and Australian Open titles, back-to-back Indian Wells and Miami Masters, then on clay, the Madrid title, Rome final, and the French Open crown. Djokovic steadied the ship, eventually regained the break at 5-5, and promptly served things out to clinch the title.

The capacity crowd at York University’s Aviva Centre was clearly partial to Djokovic, with almost a dozen Serbian flags in the stands and fans chanting “NO-LE” – Djokovic’s nickname – before the start of every game.

According to Whitaker, Djokovic did not play his best tennis this week in spite of recording his 300 Masters 1000 title, eclipsing Rafael Nadal’s own record of 29.