French veteran Gaël Monfils is through to the ASB Classic semi-finals, after a commanding 6-3 6-1 win over Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina.
Apart from a couple of very long deuce battles, Monfils dominated the match from start to finish, picking up the pace considerably from his opening two victories.
"(I had) good striking today, I was very aggressive and I served great," Monfils said.
"I had a lot of points on top of my first serve, I felt like it was a good match. It's better conditions … hopefully I keep going like that."
The on court temperature reached about 30 degrees and the 38-year-old Monfils was happy to slow things down in between games and even points at one stage.
He has been open about having to manage his body throughout the week, given that he'll be moving on to his 65th Grand Slam tournament next week.
"I know a lot of people think I'm still quite fast, but I think I'm slower than before. I need to compensate it with different work, more power. I give up a little bit of my speed to have power. When you're 22 … it's completely different."
Monfils is the oldest man to ever play in an ASB Classic semi-final, a feat he is not focusing on too much right now.
"I think I will reflect later, when you're in the moment I don't think too much now. You're always searching to play better every day. Later on, when I'm done with tennis, I will say that's really cool."
Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina plays a shot against Gael Monfils of France in the Quarter Final Men’s Singles Match of the 2025 Men’s ASB Classic. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
It was an abrupt end for Diaz Acosta, who had an otherwise impressive run. The world number 78 had to come through qualifying as a lucky loser, then defeated Cam Norrie in his first match and third seed Sebastian Baez in his second. He is an aggressive player and Monfils admitted he had to fight fire with fire at times during their match.
"I feel like the game's changed, with these youngsters, they're really aggressive. People think (Diaz Acosta) is a clay court specialist but he's really fast, he goes for shots … you need to step up as well. I really like to be in my zone in defence but I felt like I needed to shorten the points a little bit, so it forced me to be a little bit off my baseline."
Monfils now moves on to play American Nishesh Basavreddy, who defeated Alez Michelsen 2-6 6-2 6-4 earlier in the day.
At 19, he is half Monfils' age and will pose a serious threat if he can keep that form up in the semi.
Basavareddy defeated defending champ Alejandro Tabilo on the way to this match, one he described as "the best" of his career.
They played each other in last week's Brisbane International, a match that Monfils won 6-4 4-6 6-1 and one that he described as "really tough".
"I was fortunate to win in three sets, he had the momentum … he made one or two mistakes and it shifted the momentum."
