Gael Monfils overwhelmed worn out, fellow-Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-4 6-3 6-3 to become the first man into the semi-finals of the U.S. Open in New York.
Gael Monfils Photo: Photosport
Tenth seed Monfils was his energetic, athletic self and invincible from the service line in a commanding win over 22-year-old Pouille, who was coming off three successive five-set wins including a fourth-round upset of 14-times slam winner Rafa Nadal.
The 30-year-old Monfils finished off 24th seed Pouille with his 13th ace to lead off a huge day for the French, who placed three players in the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time since the 1947 French Open.
Monfils, who reached his second career grand slam semi-final and first since 2008 in Roland Garros, will meet either top seed Novak Djokovic or ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the third Frenchman in the last eight at Flushing Meadows.
They meet this afternoon.
Meanwhile women's second seed Angelique Kerber was first through to their semi-finals bringing Roberta Vinci's Flushing Meadows dream run to an end with a clinical 7-5 6-0 win.
The match had looked an intriguing one between Kerber, who is eyeing Serena Williams's world number one ranking, and the 33-year-old Italian Vinci, who discovered a fountain of youth at Flushing Meadows last year where she reached the finals.
But a foot fault on set point in the opening set appeared to trip up Vinci and sent her tumbling out of the year's final grand slam.
Kerber will face the winner between Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
-Reuters
