Gael Monfils posts classy message to Novak Djokovic

French tennis star Gael Monfils, 33, showed his class after suffering a heartbreaking Novak Djokovic defeat in the Dubai semifinal. 

Monfils, seeded at No. 3, blew three match points as No. 1 seed Djokovic claimed an impressive comeback win over the Frenchman 2-6 7-6 (8) 6-1 to set up a Dubai final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Monfils, ranked at No. 9 in the world, was on the verge of finally getting a win over world No. 1 Djokovic but he fell just short as the Serb claimed his 17th win over the Frenchman. 

17-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic recovered from a break down in the second set and also saved three consecutive match points in the tie-break before dominating the decider to complete a huge comeback win. 

Monfils, who won back-to-back titles in Montpellier and Rotterdam, won 12 matches in a row in February before losing to Djokovic. 

"I can’t beat you my friend, but always a big pleasure to play against you. You are a big champion in many ways and you showed it again tonight," Monfils said in an Instagram post. 

"I would like to thank everbody for the support (I received) in this past four weeks. Those weeks (have) been very good, let's keep it up that way."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/32MUpDr