NEW YORK—ESPN analyst John McEnroe blasted Gael Monfils' effort as "borderline unprofessional" during the early stages of his US Open four-set semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic.

The 10th-seeded Monfils answered McEnroe after the match.

US Open: Djokovic Downs Meek Monfils

Monfils, who defended his chip and push tactics as "great strategy", said he was "very sad" to hear the Hall of Famer's criticism.

"I like John. I think he's a great person," Monfils said. "I mean, I have nothing personal to him, so I'm very sad to heard that. I'm very sad to learn that such a legend criticize me, because at the end what I can say to John is, you know, John, I want to be the best. It's tough, you know. And I try my best."

Monfils said McEnroe's criticism hurts his entire team.

"I'm sorry if you think I'm unprofessional, but I guess I'm working, I'm learning, you know. I think I'm failing, for sure, a lot, but I try to stand up," Monfils said. "It's tough, because when he call me unprofessional he calls my coach unprofessional, calls my physio unprofessional, calls my physic, all my team, actually, unprofessional. Is a bit tough, you know. And he knows what it is.

"I'm more than happy to talk with him, you know. For sure, you know, it's easy to punish me because I not win anything, you know. Such an easy thing. I do different stuff. I'm happy. I'm always with a smile. I make it easy. But I think John knows that if I want to be in the semifinal of the slam, anything he can say, if I not play top seed or whatever, you know, I won couple matches and I have been trained hard."

The 30-year-old Monfils said his radical strategical shift was necessary because "the guy is killing me."

"And then it's tough, you know, tweeting during the match saying, and maybe John McEnroe say such a disgrace," Monfils said. "At the end, you know, if I have a mic, I would say to the audience that stop saying that, you know, I'm unprofessional. The guy is killing me, you know.

"I'm just embracing the fact the guy is too good for me, and I try to switch strategy.  Then somehow, you know, I had this small opportunity and I get it, and then I think the crowd was much better."



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