Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried and Tsonga and Gael Monfils are one round away from a potential semifinal showdown in Monte-Carlo. Roger Federer will have other ideas on Friday. So, too, will Marcel Granollers.
(3) Roger Federer vs. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Federer and Tsonga will renew their rivalry when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Friday. The two veterans have faced each other on 16 previous occasions but not once since the summer of 2014. Federer is leading the head-to-head series 11-5, including 3-1 on clay. He most recently prevailed on the slow stuff via a 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 decision in the quarterfinals of this same Monte-Carlo tournament two years ago. Tsonga avenged that defeat a few months later by beating Federer 7-5, 7-6(3) in the Toronto final.
This is Federer’s first appearance since the Australian Open, as he was sidelined for all of February by a knee injury before withdrawing from Miami because of illness. The 34-year-old Swiss has wasted no time getting back in a groove with straight-set defeats of Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Roberto Bautista Agut. Tsonga has bounced back from a Miami loss to Bautista Agut by picking up straight-set victories over Pablo Carreno Busta and Lucas Pouille. The ninth-ranked Frenchman is a decent 13-6 for the season. Aside from a dominant Roland Garros performance that came during Federer’s disastrous 2013 campaign, Tsonga has found success in this matchup only on extremely fast hard courts or grass. The No. 8 seed may not be consistent enough to topple his opponent in Monte-Carlo, where Federer’s comeback is off to an impressive start.
Pick: Federer in 3
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(13) Gael Monfils vs. (LL) Marcel Granollers
Monfils and Granollers will be squaring off for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in what has to be considered a downright shocking quarterfinal matchup on Friday. Granollers did not even expect to be in the main draw, as he got blown out by Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-0 in the final round of qualifying. The 67th-ranked Spaniard ended up getting a lucky-loser spot–and a bye straight to the last 32–when countryman David Ferrer withdrew due to a calf injury. As for Monfils, he could not have liked his chances of advancing past round three when the draw was revealed. That’s because found himself in the same section as Novak Djokovic, but the world No. 1 lost his opening match to Jiri Vesely.
Capitalizing on the opportunity, Monfils followed up routine wins over Gilles Muller and Paolo Lorenzi by crushing Vesely 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. The 16th-ranked Frenchman is an outstanding 18-5 for the year. Granollers advanced to the quarters by taking out Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and David Goffin 7-6(1), 6-4. The 30-year-old is still a mediocre 6-8 at the ATP level for his 2016 campaign. Granollers’ confidence is increasing by the day, but it’s almost impossible to see someone who got clobbered by Gimeno-Traver beating a focused and motivated Monfils.
Pick: Monfils in 2
[polldaddy poll=9385955]
who ya got?
La Monf in two fed in three
yup
Fed and Gael in two.
Jo Tsonga 3!
And if I must be wrong…
Granollers in 3.
Fed is back…should win in two. Monfils in 2 as well.
Bigger, stronger, & fitter. Those post-surgery anabolics 😛
Mo-Jo breaks!
Mo-jo up a Do-bo!
Speaking of, I just LOVE me some adobo sauce.
Don’t choke Jo! please….
Come on Jo!
Jo breaks Fed!
Jo !!????
^ What flag was that? lol
So proud of Jo Tsonga.????
Tsonga wins 36 62 75.
YAY! Jo wins!
? Congrats to me!
rc,
Did you pick Jo to win? I was trying to remember if someone did.
Then good for you!
yes, I did! patting myself on the back right now, lol…
Well played Ratstradamus!
Tsonga beat Fed! ⚡ ⚡ ⚡
Mrs. Chris has a love problem.
RT Chris Evert: “Still get sad when Roger Federer loses. ? Who are we going to love as much when he’s out of the game?”
https://twitter.com/ChrissieEvert/status/720985621033054208
Maybe it’s too much respect for Monfils, but Granollers is not confident, not creative and mixing it up, or coming in like he did v Sascha and Goffin. He can’t win by retreating behind the baseline every time hit hits the ball – even against a tired looking Monfils. Not that I want Granollers to win…
Allez Gael!
Monfils loves to play dead but plays well in between collapsing.
Well-earned semifinal spot for Monfils.
Jo looked better today but… Congrats Gael!
Bother! We are denied the prospect of a Fedal final yet again.