The crowd was cheering for their underdog Frenchman but it as was the Swiss favourite who proved why he is a three-time Grand Slam Champion. No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka took out Gael Monfils in straights sets on 7-5, 7-6, 6-2.
The two good friends, surprisingly hadn’t faced each other in six years on tour. Their last meeting at the 2011 Australian Open.
Monday’s contest on Philippe-Chatrier was anything but routine for Wawrinka in the first two sets. Monfils came out strong to start the match getting eight break opportunities in Wawrinka’s first three service games. He converted in the fifth game to go up 3-2. Then two games later, the No. 15 seed appeared to tweet his ankle coming to the net on a volley and handed the break back to Wawrinka. Monfils was again broken for a third time thanks to a double fault which gave Wawrinka the set.
In the second set, each player exchanged breaks in their first two service games. Up 4-3, Wawrinka took a medical timeout for treatment on what appeared to be his lower back. The issue didn’t seem to affect him as both players managed to hold serve the rest of the way until the tiebreak. Wawrinka had three chances to close out the set up 6-3 but Monfils dug deep and managed to get it back to even and motioned for the crowd to get on their feet. But it was all for not as Wawrinka hit a superb crosscourt winner on the next point and then finished off the set with a great volley at the net.
Monfils whittled away in the third playing some sloppy tennis at times. The 2015 French Open champ broke the hometown hero two more times and he went on to win the match.
“It was a really close two sets,” Wawrinka said.” I think was a tough match, tough conditions, quite windy, a lot of tension, because we know each other so well. So was important to stay there, to stay strong with myself, and I’m happy to get through this match.
“I think he was able to take all the opportunities he had, especially at key moments in the match,” said Monfils. “He had a lot of break balls, and he was able to pick up these points. At the beginning, I felt quite well. I have to say I had many opportunities. But whenever he had opportunities, he was very good. I think he was better than I was in the end.”
Wawrinka, now 9-1 against French opponents at Roland -Garros, advanced to the quarter-finals for the fourth time in his career. He will play Marin Cilic who only needed a set and three games to reach the final eight. His opponent Kevin Anderson retired from their fourth round match with a hamstring injury.
“Most matches I’ve played were very aggressive,” said Wawrinka about Cilic. “And I know that generally when I’m playing well, my style is not a style he really appreciates, because I dictate the game from the back of the court. So I think I need to let him be aggressive to then impose my style.”
