Roger Federer’s quest for a second French Open crown remains right on track after defeating Gael Monfils in the fourth round on Monday. The 17-time Grand Slam champion will look to book a place in the semifinals later today when he takes on his Davis Cup-winning teammate Stanislas Wawrinka.
Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this All-Swiss matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our quarterfinal previews of Djokovic vs. Nadal and Murray vs. Ferrer.
Roger Federer secured his 11th Roland Garros quarterfinal with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Gael Monfils on Court Suzanne Lenglen. The Swiss maestro completed the four-set win on Monday after the match was suspended at a set apiece on Sunday night due to poor visibility. When play resumed, Federer needed only just an hour to finish off the 13th-seed Monfils.
[sc:Other240banner ]Federer, who improved to 9-4 against Monfils, blasted 41 winners and won 74% of his first serve points. What proved to be the difference in the contest, though, was his return. Federer won 44% of his receiving points against the Frenchman with the World No. 2 converting six of his 13 break point opportunities.
Next up for Federer is a last-eight clash with Stan Wawrinka. The 33-year-old will fancy his chances against his Swiss counterpart as he has won 16 of his 18 previous matches against Wawrinka. Federer won their most recent meeting in the semifinals at Monte Carlo last April, beating Wawrinka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. They have faced each other twice before in the French Open with Federer winning both of those matches.
For Federer to extend his dominance against Wawrinka, he needs to bring his aggressive style and continue his strong net play. He won 25 of his 39 net points against Monfils in the previous round. Federer has won 74% (124-of-168) of his total net points in the entire tournament thus far.
Federer is 8-2 in his last 10 matches.
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Betting on Stanislas Wawrinka
Stanislas Wawrinka barged into the quarterfinals of the 2015 French Open with a convincing 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win over Gilles Simon on Sunday. It was an excellent performance from the 30-year-old who needed just one hour and 51 minutes to record the straight-sets victory.
Key to Wawrinka’s emphatic win was his excellent return. He won 47% of his receiving points against Simon as he converted six of his 20 break point chances. He also found some success in his occasional forays to the net, winning eight of his 13 points there. Wawrinka has been outstanding thus far in this tournament, dropping just a single set in his opening four matches.
Things are bound to get tougher, though, for Wawrinka as standing in his way in the next round is the 2009 champion Roger Federer. He is 2-16 lifetime against Federer. Wawrinka will take heart in the fact, however, that both of his victories against Federer have come on clay. His last win against Federer came in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters last year where Wawrinka eked out a stunning 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory.
Key to Wawrinka’s comeback win back then was his highly-efficient play. After committing a whopping 17 unforced errors in the first set, Wawrinka limited his mistakes in the ensuing sets, making just 17 errors the rest of the way. He will need more of the same later today if he is to upset Federer. He’s averaging 36.3 unforced errors in his four previous matches in the tournament thus far.
Wawrinka also needs to improve on his first serve percentage if he is to stand a chance against Federer. He converted just 43% of his first serves against Simon. That simply won’t do against a world-class player like Federer who’s 13-3 on clay this season.
Wawrinka is 8-2 in his last 10 matches.
Writer’s Prediction
Federer (-240) edges past Wawrinka in a four-set thriller.
