Novak Djokovic extends dominance over Monfils to 20-0

Novak Djokovic defeated Gael Monfils on Thursday night in Brisbane, extending the sports most one-sided rivalry with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

The Serbian now holds a 20-0 head-to-head against Monfils, with the pair first playing in 2005.

The win puts Djokovic through to the Brisbane International quarter-finals, where he pays $1.04 at Neds to defeat big-serving American Reilly Opelka on Friday.

He also shortens to a $1.61 favourite across tennis betting sites to win the tournament and claim his 100th title, well ahead of second-favourite Grigor Dimitrov, who pays $5.50 to win at PlayUp.

Against Monfils, Djokovic was strong from the baseline, consistently wearing down the athletic Frenchman to win extended rallies.

This, combined with more dominant serving – the 24-time tennis Grand Slam champion faced just one break point – meant the one-hour, 13-minute match was always headed in the same direction as the previous 19.

“Monfils’ game suits me well,” Djokovic said after the match.

“To some extent the more you win against someone, the happier you are to play him.”

“It was a special match in a way, playing a 37-year-old versus a 38-year-old on the Tour in the first tournament of God knows what season of ours that we have in our career.

“I enjoyed it. I think it was a good quality match.

“I think he had just a couple of loose games first, second set that allowed me to break his serve.

“It was tighter than maybe the score indicates.”

Djokovic was complimentary of his opponent after the match, pointing towards several occasions where Monfils came close to gaining his first win in the rivalry.

“I think he deserves a great credit for playing still at such a high level at his age,” he said.

“He’s so athletic.

“Super nice guy that is loved by millions of people – with a reason.

“He’s a great entertainer, great charisma. The best dancer we have on the tour, that’s for sure.

“He’s been around. He’s been a top-10 player.

“Played a lot of late stages of grand slams.

“He loves the big stage, the big stadiums.”

Despite Djokovic’s strong start to 2025, he still remains on the third line of betting to win the Australian Open, beginning on Sunday, January 12.

The 37-year-old returns $4.50 win the top online bookmakers, with Jannik Sinner ($2.50) and Carlos Alcaraz ($4.33) ahead of him in outright tennis betting odds.

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