Berrettini Edges Monfils in the fifth epic set at the US Open | ATP Tour

Matteo Berrettini exploded Wednesday to become the second Italian in the history of the tournament to reach the semifinals of the US Open.

Seed No. 24 defeated the nerves early and lost four match points at the end of the fifth inning of a thrilling encounter, which was jam-packed, to outsell the No. 13 seed Gael Monfils of France , 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in three hours and 56 minutes.

Berrettini was left on the street hitting a nervous 76. double foul on the match point by serving at 5-4, 40/30 in the deciding set. Two points later, with the mistake weighing heavily on the shoulders of the 23-year-old, Monfils earned the break when Berrettini hit a forehand in the net.

Two other match points begging at 6-5, Berrettini putting a forehand in the net while Monfils was serving at 30/40; then, when Monfils showed no fear to Ad-Out to force a flip-flop error. A third opportunity at 6/4 of the decisive game was saved, before Berrettini finally reached his 34th victory in 2019.

Berrettini, who attends the tour de force of his compatriot Corrado Barazzutti, semi-finalist of 1977, will face on Friday the winner of the second seed, the former triple champion Rafael Nadal and the Argentine favorite Diego Schwartzman, n ° 20 Berrettini has not met Nadal before, but has a 1-1 record in two FedEx ATP Head2Head 2019 matches against Schwartzman.

With the biggest win of his career in the Grand Slam championship, Berrettini moved from 14th to 9th place of ATP Race To London 2019 for a spot at the Nitto ATP final, to be held at The O2 in London from 10 to 17 November. Berrettini won two crowns of the ATP Tour in 2019 at the Hungarian Open in Budapest (D. Krajinovic) and the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart (D. Auger-Aliassime). He also finished second at the FWU BMW Open in Munich (on foot from Garin).

Berrettini, who lost to Denis Kudla in the first round of the US Open 2018, defeated 53 winners, including 15 ats against Monfils, who committed 51 unforced errors and 17 double faults.

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Monfils dominated the service, capitalizing on Berrettini's nerves for the first time in the quarter-finals in the first set. Monfils' surprise attacks and net incursions allowed Berrettini to never settle in, and at 2-3, two consecutive forehand errors marked the first break. At the end of the 32-minute opening match, Berrettini had made 14 unforced errors, including 10 on wings.

Monfils, continually dangerous on the big current shots, did not let go when he broke in the first game of the second set. However, a concentration error allowed Berrettini to regain his footing and return to 2-2. Monfils began to slow down in wet conditions and double faults, in addition to only two earned service points, saw Berrettini gain speed and score a 5-3 advantage. Monfils finally made it together, looking for his chair and a chance to regroup.

In a turnaround, Berrettini got another break at the start of the third set before Monfils, calling for the lights at the Arthur Ashe Stadium to be lit, with rain clouds overhead. The roof was then closed. Berrettini led 4-2, after an hour and 47 minutes of play. On the restart, Monfils paralyzed three double faults in a seventh game at 16 points.

Monfils used crowd support to fight Berrettini in the fourth set, converting his fifth point stop to the fourth game. Subsequently, Monfils began saving energy for its service games, holding short rallies and preparing for a decisive set.

Monfils' challenge seemed to be over early in the decision, when a forehand in the net gave Berrettini the early lead. Monfils recovered to 1-2, but was soon unable to present his powerful and sporty game. Berrettini took a 5-2 advantage, before the nerves and experience of Monfils' biggest match guarantee a tense final.

Monfils, who is 11th in the ATP Race To London 2019, has dropped to a record 30-12 games of the season, which includes his eighth ATP title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (death of Wawrinka) in February.