Djokovic into the history books with 19-0 record against Monfils

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Gael Monfils in his matchup with Novak Djokovic, it did.

The two “rivals” are now in the history books together following Djokovic’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over Monfils in round three of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday night. The Serb’s win gave him a 19-0 lifetime lead in their head-to-head series on the main tour.

Djokovic’s 19-0 record over Monfils in the most lopsided for any matchup in the history of the ATP Tour. At 18-0 heading into Thursday’s contest, Djokovic vs Monfils had been tied with Rafael Nadal vs Richard Gasquet. Four other head-to-heads are 17-0, including two in Roger Federer’s favor (against David Ferrer and Mikhail Youzhny).

Monfils has actually defeated Djokovic once before. They squared off at a 2004 Futures event in Italy, where the Frenchman prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.

Since then, however, it has been all Djokovic all the time.

“It was kind of an evolution of both players over the last 15-plus years that we have been facing each other in different parts of the world, also in juniors and of course after on the professional circuit,” Djokovic reflected during his on-court interview following his most recent defeat of Monfils. “Early on I struggled a lot with him — physically, as well. When you play one of the most athletic guys on the tour, you have to be ready for every ball to come back. His game suits me.

“It’s nice to see him back; we had not played in a few years. It’s great to to see him back playing well at such a high level.”

Monfils may be playing at high level this summer — just not against Djokovic.

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