The 38-year-old withstood the challenge from 19-year-old American rookie Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6, 6-4 to advance to his 35th ATP Tour final today at the Manuka Doctor Arena.
He will take on Belgian qualifier Zizou Bergs in the final, after he prevailed in a topsy-turvy encounter against Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
Monfils had to defend stoutly in the opening set, forced to deuce on four occasions, and then survived from 3-1 down in the tiebreak before securing the vital first set.
His young Californian opponent, bidding to push into the world top 100 with victory, led 4-3 in the second set but Monfils squared the match then broke and held service to claim victory in front of a sold-out arena.
"I am happy. People know I am a warrior on the court and I am not going to give up that easy. I am very pleased how I got through today," Monfils said.
Monfils said he cannot comprehend how he has won an ATP Tour semifinal match 20 years after his first.
"I don’t remember what I was thinking when I was young, but I am happy that I am still able to do one more," Monfils said.
"Experience was the key. The turning point was I was 40-0 down and hit five great returns to put pressure on him and the next game I was able to win."
And what would it mean to win his 35th ATP Tour Final?
"I do not know. I will tell you if I win."
Basavareddy impressed this week, after losing in three sets to Monfils last week in Brisbane, and reaching 106 in the world rankings in his debut season. After qualifying in Auckland, he moves to direct entry at the Australian Open, where he has drawn defending champion Novak Djokovic in the opening round.
Monfils’ opponent, Bergs, edged out seventh seed Borges in three sets of fluctuating fortunes in the other semifinal.
Bergs will play his first ATP Tour final, the first Belgian male to do so in three years.
The 25-year-old Bergs won the opening set comfortably 6-2 but Borges, who accounted for the world’s top rated teenager, Jakub Menzik, in the second round, reeled off five straight games to claim the second 6-3. Bergs made the move in the third set to be ahead 4-2 before Borges fought back to lead 5-3.
The match was tied at 5-5 before the Belgian won two games on the trot to claim the set 7-5 and the match.
"It was a difficult match with momentum shifting," Bergs said.
"I had a chance with a double break in the second set, but I did not take my chances and he is a difficult opponent, fighting back.
"He had very good defence and before I knew in the third set, I had won, taking some right choices and making the right shots for it to go my way.
"It seems like every time when I was down, I managed to find a way.
"I came from Hong Kong and did not think I would need to go through qualifying but I did. It has been like this here, finding myself in difficult situations and turning it around.
"Definitely I did not expect to be in this situation of making a final after going through qualifying"
Bergs said he had not had the opportunity to look closely at Monfils, but is excited at the opportunity.
New Zealand will have representation on finals day with Michael Venus and new Croatian partner Nikola Mektic combining to win their semifinal 3-6, 6-1, 10-5 over Mexican Santiago Gonzalez and Australian Lucas Medler.
Venus and Mektic made several errors in losing the opening set, but got their act together to dominate the second and the 10-point tiebreak decider.
Mektic is looking to make it three doubles titles in a row at the ASB Classic and between he and Venus they have more than 50 doubles titles between them.
— APL
