World number two Novak Djokovic will be up against the 211th-ranked Gael Monfils in the third round of the 2023 ATP Cincinnati Masters on Thursday, August 17. Get the predictions and odds of this Novak Djokovic v Gael Monfils match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Novak Djokovic v Gael Monfils Head to Head
There have been 17 previous meetings between these two players at the highest level and Djokovic has won every single time. The only time Monfils did beat Dokovic was in their first meeting in 2004 on the Futures circuit!
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Djokovic Benefits from Fokina Retirement
In his first match since having lost at the Wimbledon final, Djokovic looked slightly rusty in his opening set against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina but still managed to clinch it in 36 minutes.
A few minutes into the second half, however, Fokina was forced to retire from the match because of a back issue that had forced him into taking a medical timeout.
Djokovic had earlier saved two break-points in the third game of the only set played and then broken Fokina in the eighth game. Serving for the set, Djokovic was broken in the ninth before coming back to clinch the set off his second set-point in the very next game.
Interestingly, Djokovic hadn’t played in Cincinnati since 2019 when he had made the semifinal before losing to Daniil Medvedev.
He will now look to, in his own words, hope he “can build my form day to day and progress through the tournament with raising the level” and he has a perfect opponent for his third round match – one against whom he has never lost a match.
Djokovic starts off a 1/7 (with bet365) favourite in this one.
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Monfils Ends De Minaur’s Deep Runs
Alex de Minaur is in the form of his life and had entered his second round match at the Cincinnati Masters against Monfils as a 1/2 (with bet365) favourite. That wasn’t surprising given his runs to the finals at the Los Cabos Open and the Canadian Masters.
Having said that, de Minaur would have also been a tad exhausted given the number of matches he has played in the last two weeks and Monfils took full advantage of that.
In a match filled with long rallies, Monfils wore de Minaur down and clinched the third round berth 7-5, 6-4.
The Frenchman, on his return trail, faced a mere two break-points in the entire match and saved both of them while overcoming de Minaur’s serve on two occasions. He had created a total of nine such opportunities.
Against Djokovic though, Monfils will be a second favourite by some distance (he is 5/1 with bet365 to win this) and while we expect something similar, there is no doubting his fighting capabilities.
Djokovic v Monfils Prediction and Tip
Expecting Djokovic to win in straight sets but not before Monfils has pushed him through in at least one of the two sets.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Djokovic to win in straight sets: 1/2 (with bet365)
- Moderate Risk Tip: Under 20.5 games in the match: 5/6 (with bet365)
The 2023 ATP Cincinnati Open will be played from August 13 to 20. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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