Stefanos Tsitsipas says two-week Masters 1000s are 'a drag'—but Stan Wawrinka remembers when he said otherwise

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Novak Djokovic needed just 68 minutes to ease past a familiar foe in Gael Monfils in Cincinnati—and in the process write their names into the tennis history books as the most one-sided ATP rivalry in the Open Era.

The pair met for the 19th time in the third round at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday evening, and for the 19th time in a row it was Djokovic who walked away with the victory, 6-3, 6-2.

But Monfils says he’s focusing on the positives from this week, which saw him reach his second consecutive Masters 1000 quarterfinal with victories over No. 13 seed Cameron Norrie—his second Top 20 win of the year—and last week’s Toronto finalist Alex de Minaur.

In fact, after his Cincy campaign came to an end at the hands of Djokovic, the 36-year-old Frenchman made sure to take home a souvenir of the historic moment. He got his opponent to sign his match-worn shirt for posterity, with Djokovic adding a cheeky “sorry not sorry” message along with his autograph.

Always an honor to play together my friend 🙏 :-) https://t.co/hnmc4IntZw
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) August 18, 2023

“It may not have been the match I was hoping for against the GOAT, but it's still an honor and a pleasure to face [Novak],” Monfils wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Despite everything, it remains a positive week. I'm going to rest to be on top at the US Open. Thank you so much for your incredible support.”

Even with their one-sided rivalry reaching historic levels, the mutual respect was obvious between the two competitors, who played their first match as juniors. Before their third-round meeting, Djokovic had plenty of praise for Monfils’ resurgence after fighting back from another injury layoff.

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“It's great to see him play on a high level again after struggling with his injuries for a few years," Djokovic said of Monfils.

“It's great to see him play on a high level again after struggling with his injuries for a few years. We cannot forget that he's older than me, because everyone talks about my age,” Djokovic said with a laugh.

“I think it's worth saying that he's one year older!”

Djokovic moved into the quarterfinals at the Western & Southern Open, where No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz awaits.

And for the record, these are the most one-sided undefeated ATP Tour rivalries in the Open Era:

Novak Djokovic 19-0 Gael Monfils
Rafael Nadal 18-0 Richard Gasquet
Roger Federer 17-0 David Ferrer
Roger Federer 17-0 Mikhail Youzny
Ivan Lendl 17-0 Tim Mayotte
Bjorn Borg 17-0 Vitas Gerulaitis

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