Monfils to face Melzer for Winston-Salem title

Gael Monfils shrugged off pain in his left hip to reach his second ATP final of the season at the Winston-Salem Open.
The French 15th seed defeated 10th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 (11/9), 6-3 to advance to the title match of this US Open tuneup, where he'll face ninth-seeded Austrian veteran Jurgen Melzer, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 winner over sixth-seeded American Sam Querrey.
The win was the first for the 32-year-old Austrian over Querry after two defeats.
Melzer has lost to Monfils in four previous matches, but Monfils said the injuries that have hampered him in recent weeks make him the underdog.

"I still think I'm the outsider. I am the outsider, and I like it," Monfils said. "I'm happy that hopefully I can keep going.
"I'm trying get back into shape. I've worked hard this week and it's paying off well."

Monfils called for the trainer after just 11 minutes on court, having surrendered two breaks of serve to trail Dolgopolov 0-3.
But after a consultation and on-court treatment, he changed his attitude and got on with the job of mounting a comeback.
"I had thigh muscle pain which was going to my hip. The trainer told me I was just tight," Monfils said.

"When we resumed I told myself to focus on the match, not the pain. OK, I have some pain but it's no reason not to play tough. I just needed to focus less on my body.
"I tried to keep it simple and it worked," added Monfils. "I needed to get my rhythm back.