US Open: Here’s why Djokovic won’t join Murray and Serena in shock exit

The first week of the US Open was relatively shock-free, but week two promptly threw surprise after surprise. Andy Murray and Serena Williams have been the headline departures in recent days, but don’t expect Novak Djokovic to join them.

The world number one faces the emphatic and erratic Gael Monfils, and odds of 1/8 reflect how heavily Djokovic is expected win against the 5/1 outsider.

While Murray fell in five to Kei Nishikori, and Serena in straights to Karolina Pliskova, the mighty Serbian is all set to make yet another US Open final.

Here’s why…

Head-to-head

Monfils has pretty much beaten them all down the years, his innate talent too good to ignore, but the Frenchman has consistently failed to break down Djokovic.

The Serbian holds a startling 12-0 record over Monfils, with six coming in straight sets.

If you fancy Monfils to grab another set here, Djoko is 5/2 to win 3-1 and 13/2 to prevail in five.

Generous draw

After winning three of the four Junior Slams in 2004, Monfils was tipped for the top, but his appearance tonight will be just the Frenchman’s second semi-final Slam appearance.

The pre-tournament draw had Monfils scheduled to play world number five Milos Roanic in the fourth round, followed by a quarter-final with Rafael Nadal.

But with Roanic out in round two, and Rafa also exiting early, Monfils hasn’t played anybody ranked higher than 25 in the world.

Freshness

In an utterly bizarre series of events, Djokovic is in the semi-final having played just two full matches.

Jiri Vesely pulled out before their second round encounter, while Mikhail Youznhy in round four and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters both retired.

So the big Serbian really hasn’t been tested.

That could mean Monfils catches him cold, but that would be to vastly underestimate the world number one.

He’s fresh, he’s been itching to get out on court and play some tennis, and he’s going to want to find out where his game is at.

Much like a spring pulled back and ready to fly, Djokovic is ready to unleash all sorts of havoc upon Monfils tonight.

It’s 10/11 Djoko wraps the match up in three sets, with 4/5 saying the Serbian does it in under 35.5. games.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.