Ten days ago, Gael Monfils started his summer hard-court season on a three-match losing streak. He managed a total of three games in the fourth and fifth sets of a first-round loss to Jeremy Chardy at Wimbledon. He missed his home Grand Slam at Roland Garros due to a virus. And he hadn’t won a title in more than 29 months. Ten days later, Monfils is on a career-long nine-match win streak and set for a semi-final showdown with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Toronto.

Monfils won five matches in as many days July 20-24 to capture the biggest title of his career at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Washington. The Frenchman flew to Toronto about five hours after saving a championship point against Ivo Karlovic, enjoying only one off-day before beginning his Rogers Cup campaign on Tuesday. If Monfils is to earn his 10th straight victory, he will need to beat Djokovic for the first time on tour. Monfils has an 0-11 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record versus Djokovic, though in 2004, he defeated a 16-year-old Djokovic in ITF Juniors and Futures matches.

Djokovic could extend a streak of 17 straight ATP Masters 1000 tournaments won by a member of the ‘Big 4,’ which also includes Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Should the Serbian superstar overcome Monfils on Saturday, he will ensure that a ‘Big 4’ player appears in the final for the 33rd straight ATP Masters 1000 event. With each win this week, Djokovic is distancing himself from Murray in the Emirates ATP Race to London as the 29-year-olds battle to finish the season as World No. 1. Djokovic entered Toronto with an 815-point lead in the race over Murray.

In the other semi-final, opportunity awaits No. 2 seed Stan Wawrinka and No. 3 seed Kei Nishikori, who have one ATP Masters 1000 title between them. That went to Wawrinka at 2014 Monte-Carlo, but the Swiss has not returned to an ATP Masters 1000 final since. Following Wawrinka’s breakthrough, Nishikori reached the next ATP Masters 1000 final at 2014 Madrid. He was also runner-up at 2016 Miami, saving five match points to beat Monfils en route to the final.

Fifth-seeded Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau meet No. 3 seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in the doubles semi-finals. Born one week apart, Mergea and Tecau won Wimbledon junior doubles titles in 2002 and 2003. They captured their first ATP World Tour title as a team earlier this season at Bucharest. In a potential preview of the Rio Olympics August 6-14, Mergea and Tecau swept No. 1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan in straight sets on Friday.

The other doubles semi-final pits Australian Open champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares against the Olympic duo of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil. Canadians Nestor and Pospisil are teaming on the ATP World Tour for the first time since 2013 Basel. Soares and Melo, on the other hand, opted to play this week with their regular partners. The Brazilians will carry the host nation’s medal hopes in Rio de Janeiro along with their countrymen Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa.

FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – Singles Semi-finals

[3] Kei Nishikori (JPN) vs [2] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) – Wawrinka Leads 3-1
Nishikori 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Advanced to SF or better in 4 of 5 ATP Masters 1000 appearances this year (Indian Wells QF)
• Captured 4th straight Memphis title and extended win streak at event to 17 matches (d. Fritz)
• Saved 5 MPs to beat Monfils en route to 2nd ATP Masters 1000 final of career at Miami (l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Also saved 1 MP to defeat Isner 76 in 3rd before falling to No. 5 Nadal in ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells QF
• Reached ATP Masters 1000 SFs at Madrid (l. to Djokovic 76 in 2nd) and Rome (l. to Djokovic 76 in 3rd)
• Appeared in 3rd consecutive Barcelona final (d. Paire, l. to No. 5 Nadal)
• Advanced to Aus. Open QF (d. Tsonga, l. to Djokovic) and Roland Garros 4R (d. Verdasco in 5 sets, l. to Gasquet)
• Conceded walkover in Halle 2R vs. F. Mayer and retired in Wimbledon 4R vs. Cilic due to rib injury
• Beat Evans before falling to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets, snapping 12-match Davis Cup win streak (GBR d. JPN 3-1)

Wawrinka 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: First-time semifinalist seeks 1st ATP Masters 1000 final since winning 2014 Monte-Carlo title
• On a 10-match win streak in finals after beating Cilic 64 76(11) for 1st Swiss title at Geneva
• Also beat Baghdatis 64 76(13) to win ATP World Tour 500 event in Dubai
• Captured 3rd straight Chennai title (d. Coric), increasing win streaks at event to 12 matches and 24 sets
• Enjoyed 400th career win in Australian Open 3R on Jan. 23 (d. Rosol) before falling in 4R (l. to Raonic in 5 sets)
• In defense of Roland Garros title, won 5-setter over Rosol in 1R and reached SF (l. to No. 2 Murray)
• Appeared in 46 consecutive Grand Slam main draws since making major debut at 2005 Roland Garros
• Advanced to ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo QF (d. Kohlschreiber and Simon, l. to No. 5 Nadal)
• Saved 2 MPs to beat Stakhovsky 64 46 76(8) in Marseille 2R and came within 2 points of losing to Stakhovsky in Dubai 1R before earning 57 63 75 win

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [10] Gael Monfils (FRA) – Djokovic Leads 11-0
Djokovic 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Advanced to final in 13 of last 14 ATP Masters 1000 appearances, winning 10 titles
• Won Roland Garros title to become 8th man with career Grand Slam and 3rd with all 4 majors at once (d. Murray)
• Surpassed 200 weeks at No. 1, $100 million in prize money and 50 wins at all 4 majors during Roland Garros
• Tied Emerson for 4th all-time with 12 Grand Slam men’s singles titles
• Also tied Emerson’s all-time record with 6th Australian Open title (d. No. 2 Murray)
• Defeated by Querrey in Wimbledon 3R, ending calendar Grand Slam bid and 30-match win streak at majors
• Swept Indian Wells (d. Raonic) and Miami (d. No. 6 Nishikori) for 3rd straight year and 4th time overall
• Added Madrid title for record-setting 29th ATP Masters 1000 championship (d. No. 2 Murray)
• Fell to No. 3 Murray in ATP Masters 1000 Rome final, snapping career-long 17-match win streak vs. Top 10
• Became 3rd active player to reach 700 wins by beating Jaziri in Dubai 2R on Feb. 24 (also Federer and Nadal)
• Fell 1 shy of Lendl’s Open-Era record 18 straight finals, retiring vs. Lopez in Dubai QF (eye)
• Defeated Nedovyesov in 3 sets and Kukushkin in 5 sets to help Serbia beat Kazakhstan 3-2 in Davis Cup 1R

Monfils 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Owns a 1-14 record against World No. 1s, beating then-No. 1 Nadal 64 64 in 2009 Doha QF
• Captured biggest title of career at ATP World Tour 500 event in Washington, saving 1 MP vs. Karlovic in final
• Reached 3rd ATP Masters 1000 final at Monte-Carlo (d. No. 9 Tsonga, l. to No. 5 Nadal in 3 sets)
• Also reached ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Indian Wells (l. to Raonic) and Miami (l. to No. 6 Nishikori after 5 MPs)
• Advanced to 1st Australian Open QF in 11th appearance (l. to Raonic)
• Lost to Klizan in Rotterdam championship match and is now 6-19 lifetime in finals
• Won 8th straight Davis Cup match to open France’s 5-0 sweep of Canada in 1R (d. Dancevic)
• Withdrew from Marseille (right leg), Munich (groin strain), Roland Garros (virus) and Halle (virus)

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares battled into the semi-finals of the Rogers Cup on Friday in Toronto as they edged Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 3-6, 7-5, 10-4.

The Australian Open champions saved three break points in the seventh game of the second set before breaking in the 12^th game to force a Match Tie-break, which they dominated.

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“It was a very difficult match to be honest,” Soares told ATPWorldTour.com. “We had to hang in there. They were the better team for the most part of the match. They were serving extremely well. Jamie and I talked and said we have to keep holding serve and take it to a tie-break.

“Luckily we played a very good game at 6-5 and managed to take it to the Match Tie-break. Then it kind of flipped around. We got the momentum going. Returned very well and were able to win quite comfortably. But it was one of those days. They were the better team, but we hung in there and played well at the end.”

They next will face Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, who beat the Czech team of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek 6-3, 7-6(6).

“We are excited to play on centre court, obviously,” said Pospisil, looking ahead to the semi-final clash. “We like playing at home in front of big crowds… We will try to use the energy of the crowd as much as we can to our advantage. But we like playing in Canada. We have played well here and we are playing well right now. We will take that into the match tomorrow.”

Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau ousted top seeds and five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 6-3, 6-3 to book their spot in the semi-finals.

“It was a great match for us,” Tecau told ATPWorldTour.com. “We managed to execute everything that we wanted today in our plan. We came up with an early break in the first set that gave us the momentum and we won that set with two breaks. Then we were able to continue our good form and return well and serve well. It was just one of those matches where we prepared well and were able to execute how we wanted.”

Mergea and Tecau will next face third seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, who came from a set down to beat Henri Kontinen and John Peers 3-6, 6-4, 10-8 in 75 minutes.

Gael Monfils brushed off a rare packed crowd rooting against him to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final of the season at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Friday night.

The Frenchman refused to fold against the home favourite Milos Raonic, never losing his serve and breaking the big-serving Canadian twice to advance 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 12 minutes. Time and time again it looked as if Raonic would gain the upper hand with thousands cheering for him, only for Monfils to rally and hold serve.

“I think I’m a guy [who’s] always pumped up. Any energy, I take it. Even if it’s for me or not for me, I take it,” Monfils said.

The 29 year old, who also reached the final in Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, will face top seed Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s second semi-final contest. The Serbian is undefeated against Monfils, 11-0.

The Frenchman will bring a streak of his own into the last four match-up – nine, as in the number of matches Monfils has now won in a row, dating back to his title run in Washington. The ATP World Tour 500 championship was his biggest title victory yet, and he’s carried that momentum into Toronto.

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At 3-4 in the first set, Raonic guided a forehand wide to give Monfils the break, which the Paris native celebrated with a scream that fell on hushed, partisan ears. The next game, Monfils dug in to erase three break points and held serve with a service winner after five deuces.

“I had some opportunities, and tonight I just made them,” Monfils said.

At 4-all in the second set, the Frenchman erased another break point and held after two more deuces. He broke Raonic at love to another scream and a fist pump to his team. Monfils clinched the quarter-final match with his seventh ace.

“He was doing a lot of good things. He played well. He played smart in the right moments. He was making the shots,” Raonic said. “I’ll look back at this and give it the right amount of perspective and try to take it to the next process, next step forward, to be better next time.”