NEW YORK (AP) Mardy Fish wished he'd had a chance to get used to playing in windy Arthur Ashe Stadium during this U.S. Open before facing Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.
Then again, the 19th-seeded American encountered plenty of other problems in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 loss to the third-seeded Djokovic on Monday.
He certainly had the advantage,'' Fish said.I haven't played on that court in two years. Man, is it different from playing on Louis Armstrong and Grandstand. There's not hardly any wind outside, and it's windy in there, really windy.''
Djokovic was playing a fourth consecutive match in the 23,000-plus-seat main stadium at Flushing Meadows, the sort of scheduling that comes with being a past Grand Slam champion, a highly ranked player and someone who has reached at least the semifinals at the past three U.S. Opens.
For him to play every match in there, and sort of get used to that, I think, certainly helped him. Didn't help me at all,'' said Fish, who warmed up in Ashe about three hours before Monday's match.It took me a while just to get used to sort of the conditions.''
Added Fish: ``For whatever reason, I don't know why they haven't put us on there.''
It's a familiar refrain: Another American, 20th-seeded Sam Querrey, wondered aloud last week about why he hadn't been placed on Ashe in the early rounds. He gets his moment in the spotlight Tuesday, when he plays Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka for a quarterfinal berth. Querrey is the only U.S. man left in the field.
John Isner, another American, played on Ashe on Sunday night, when he lost his third-round match.
As Fish acknowledged, his exit had plenty to do with Djokovic, who was the 2007 U.S. Open runner-up and 2008 Australian Open champion.
He plays defense as good as anyone, and so he's better than me at it, for sure. That was the case. I tried to get to the net,'' Fish said.I had some chances. I just didn't execute, generally. He played great.''
Fish tried to serve and volley.
He tried to sneak into the net in the middle of points.
He tried to hang back along the baseline for lengthy groundstroke exchanges.
None of it worked, and Djokovic wound up with a 30-13 advantage in winners.
``It's (a) very encouraging fact at this stage of the tournament that I'm raising my game and feeling more comfortable on the court,'' said Djokovic, who next plays 17th-seeded Gael Monfils of France.
FRENCH FAMILIARITY: Gael Monfils appeared to be moments away from dropping the second set against Richard Gasquet in an all-French fourth-round match at the U.S. Open on Monday.
He show me at that time he was not that good mentally,'' Monfils said.He show me he was - I won't say weak, but it was like shaky a bit.''
The 17th-seeded Monfils wound up winning 6-4, 7-5, 7-5, and he - not Gasquet - will be France's first U.S. Open quarterfinalist since Arnaud Clement in 2000. Monfils used his familiarity with Gasquet to his advantage.
He doesn't really like pressure,'' Monfils said.He don't like a lot of crowd around, the crowd involved. He don't like (to) see the opponent show emotions.''
Well, as it happens, Monfils is a player who likes to show his emotions, get fans involved and put pressure on his opponents with his excellent defensive skills. Monfils went down a break in the third set, but after seeing the mistakes Gasquet made in tough spots in the second, he was confident he'd come back.
Gasquet led 5-2 in the third set, and had a chance to serve it out at 5-3. Instead, Monfils won the last five games of the match.
The tournament was still a productive one for the 38th-ranked Gasquet, who upset sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko in the second round. Gasquet, a former top-10 player, missed more than two months last year after testing positive for cocaine - a penalty he successfully appealed, saying the drug inadvertently entered his system when he kissed a woman at a nightclub.
This was Gasquet's first fourth-round match at any Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon in 2008.
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SHORT STUFF: At 5-foot-3, Dominika Cibulkova is the shortest woman left in the draw. She's proud to be petite - especially after advancing to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.
OK, I'm short, but, you know, I'm really quick,'' she said.I can be fast on the court, and I have no problem with the low balls. I still can play fast and step into the court, so I really like the way I'm short.
``Maybe I could be little more centimeters taller for my serve, but it's still nothing I really struggle with. So I'm happy the way I am.''
At No. 45, Slovakia's Cibulkova is also the lowest-ranked woman left. She upset 11th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time major champion, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Monday to reach her first quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows.
Her best Grand Slam result is reaching the semifinals at last year's French Open. The champion of that tournament was Kuznetsova, who also won the 2004 U.S. Open.
Cibulkova's next opponent is Caroline Wozniacki, who stands 5-10 and is seeded No. 1.
Everyone is different. Everyone has their strengths, their weaknesses. You know, someone is short, someone is tall,'' Wozniacki said.I think it really doesn't matter when you're on court.''
AP Sports Writer Rachel Cohen contributed to this report.