Monfils to face Karlovic in Washington final

IN FORM: Gael Monfils returns the ball during his men's singles semifinals match against Alexander Zverev of Germany during the Citi Open at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center in Washington, DC on Saturday night. (AFP)

WASHINGTON: France’s Gael Monfils, seeking his first ATP crown outside Europe, and Ivo Karlovic, nearing titles in consecutive weeks at age 37, advanced to the ATP and WTA Washington Open final in sweltering conditions Saturday.
The 29-year-old Frenchman, whose most recent of five career titles came in 2014 at Montpellier, ripped ill German teen Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-0 in one hour.
“It was difficult conditions,” Monfils said. “It was very warm. It was very difficult to keep the ball in. I changed up the pace a little bit and it was tougher for him to handle it.”
Croatia’s 35th-ranked Karlovic fired 14 aces to defeat US fifth seed Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 in a match where temperatures on the court reached 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 Celsius).
“There was this moment when I just wanted to lay down on the court. But I kept going,” Karlovic said. “It was difficult.”
Monfils has split four career ATP matches against Karlovic, winning their most recent meeting at Madrid in 2011 but losing their only prior hardcourt matchup in 2009 at Cincinnati.
“There’s only one Ivo,” Monfils said. “Sometimes you only have one opportunity so you have to make the passing shot and then stick with the serve.”
Karlovic, averaging 20 aces a match, has not surrendered a service break this week.
“This is my game. This is my strength,” Karlovic said. “It is really working this week.”
Zverev, ranked a career-best 27th but sick with food poisoning, warned Monfils could test Karlovic with quick returns.
“He’s the quickest player on tour,” Zverev said of Monfils. “He will get a lot of returns back.”
Belgian seventh seed Yanina Wickmayer, a 2009 US Open semifinalist, battled through the heat to oust Kazakh sixth seed Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-2.
“It was very tough conditions out there,” said Wickmayer, who seeks her fifth WTA title Sunday against America’s 122nd-ranked Lauren Davis, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over 173rd-rated American Jessica Pegula.
Karlovic broke in the third game of the match and took the first set in 38 minutes, ending it like the second with back-to-back aces.
In the third game of the second set, Karlovic rocketed a service return forehand winner past Johnson and then dropped a slice backhand winner on the line to break for a 2-1 lead.
“I tried to be as aggressive as I could and it paid off,” Karlovic said. “In all the crucial moments I was able to make a good shot.”

Venus eyes 50th WTA title in Stanford

Top-seeded Venus Williams will play for her 50th WTA title on Sunday in Stanford, in the tournament where she made her professional debut 22 years ago.
Williams defeated tenacious Alison Riske 6-1, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the championship match, where she’ll face third-seeded Briton Johanna Konta.
Konta, ranked 18th in the world, reached her first career WTA final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over second-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.
After sailing through the opening set, Williams had to fight her own inconsistent serve in the second.
Up 5-4 in the second and serving for the match, Williams produced three double faults, wasting two match points.
Two games later Williams saved two set points to force the tiebreaker, which she dominated.
Williams, who won the Stanford title in 2000 and 2002, won her 49th career singles title in Taiwan in February.
The 36-year-old winner of seven Grand Slam titles turned back the clock with a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Konta, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, and at Eastbourne in June, has rebounded well from a second-round exit at the All England Club.
“I’m really happy to have come through that and to be in my first final,” Konta said. “I’m really happy that it’s here in California, where the weather is unbelievable.”
Konta dominated on serve, winning four of her five service games in the first set at love.
She closed out the first frame with an ace, and delivered more of the same in the second set, when she won 27 of the 29 points on which she put her first serve in play.
“I definitely felt I needed to take care of things on my end the best possible way,” Konta said. “I was very effective with my breathing and just really playing within myself.”
Cibulkova said power wasn’t Konta’s only advantage on serve.
“Her placing was very good,” Cibulkova said. “Her serve was fast, but it wasn’t the main problem. She was just placing the serve really well, and it was really hard to read it.”