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MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Gael Monfils

GAEL MONFILS' inability to take his chances on the big occasion came back to haunt him as he lost an epic five set thriller against Roger Federer at Flushing Meadows in the US Open quarter finals after being two sets up.

Hopes were high for Monfils after his convincing victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the previous round but after a strong start against Federer he failed to go onto win the match (September 4).

Early on Monfils continued his great from his previous match as he took control of the quarter-final against Federer winning the first two sets 6-4 and 6-3.

Federer came back strongly, but only after Monfils failed to capitalise on his chances to win the game, especially in the fourth set where he had two match points, neither of which would have secured his semi-final spot.

The unconventional Frenchman will be disappointed he could not go the distance in a major tournament yet again but he humbly paid tribute to Federer's quality.

Monfils admitted: "That’s why he is Roger Federer! It was 50-50 and then he tried to come to the net very often then suddenly he started to mix everything. That’s why he is the greatest player ever because he can do everything."

As Monfils heads back to France, Federer will be looking ahead to his last four clash with Marin Cilic as he gets ever closer to his 18th grand slam title.