Austria’s Dominic Thiem in action during his fourth round match against France’s Gael Monfils. (Reuters)Last year’s runner-up Dominic Thiem made light work of Gael Monfils as he ended French presence in the singles draw with a no-nonsense 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday.
The Austrian fourth seed, widely regarded as the man standing between a final showdown between world number one Novak Djokovic and 11-times champion Rafael Nadal, wiped 14th seed Monfils off Court Philippe Chatrier in expeditious fashion.
He will next face either Russian Karen Khachanov or Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro for a place in the last four, where he could meet Serbian Djokovic.
“It was my best match of the tournament so far, some great rallies; it’s always fun to play Gael,” said Thiem, who advanced in straight sets for the first time this year.
Thiem took full advantage of Monfils misfiring early on to move 4-0 ahead. It was a necessary cushion as the Frenchman, finally hitting his stride, won four of the five following games. Thiem served for the set at 5-4 and Monfils could offer no resistance.
There was more of a contest in the second set which went on serve until the ninth game, when Monfils hit long to hand his opponent a decisive break.
The Frenchman had no choice but to applaud his opponent after the Austrian hit a winner with a between-the-legs shot after a quick exchange at the net. Thiem broke for 2-1 but wasted another opportunity in the fifth game. It did not prove costly, however, as Monfils had long lost the thread.
No French woman reached the third round at Roland Garros this year and, in the men’s draw, Monfils’s defeat followed that of Benoit Paire, who lost focus in a five-set match against Kei Nishikori earlier on Monday.
Novak Djokovic reaches tenth successive Roland Garros quarter-final
World No. 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic’s untroubled progress continued at the French Open as he chalked up a fourth successive straight-sets victory on Monday, this time outclassing Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the quarter-finals.
His 6-3 6-2 6-2 defeat of the 45th-ranked German means Djokovic is the first man to reach 10 successive quarter-finals at Roland Garros — a feat even Rafael Nadal has not achieved.
Struff was bidding to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final and provided some early resistance in drizzly conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Djokovic had an early chance to break in the second game but Struff won a fierce baseline rally to avert the danger. It felt like only a matter of time before Djokovic moved up a gear though, and in the seventh game he brought up two more break points with a stunning backhand passing shot. He duly converted with a smash after softening up Struff with a series of punishing groundstrokes into the corners.
After holding serve to take the opening set, Djokovic rolled through the next two in cruise control, making only 11 unforced errors in the one hour 33-minute workout.
He will face either Italian Fabio Fognini or German’s Alexander Zverev in the quarter-final.
Djokovic is bidding to become only the second man to hold all four Grand Slams simultaneously twice, having first achieved the feat three years ago when he won his only French Open title.
Nishikori reaches quarters as Frenchman goes ‘Paire-shaped’
Kei Nishikori extinguished the hot-headed Benoit Paire’s fiery challenge to book his place in the quarter-finals of the French Open with an error-strewn 6-2 6-7(8) 6-2 6-7(8) 7-5 victory on Monday.
Local favourite Paire’s focus, or lack of, was the key to a match that was interrupted by failing light on Sunday, as the Japanese seventh seed set up a meeting with 11-time champion Rafa Nadal.
The match resumed on Court Suzanne Lenglen at two sets to one, with Paire taking command in the fourth with an early break.
He then wasted a chance to get another break and Nishikori eventually forced a tiebreak only to get tight-armed, wasting two match points on serve before handing a set point with an ugly double fault.
Paire, who hit a woeful 79 unforced errors — including 16 double faults — this time converted. He went 3-1 up in the decider as Nishikori continued to lack consistency, then 5-3 up with another break immediately after himself handing a break to his Japanese opponent. Serving for the match, however, Paire dropped serve, and then did so again to allow Nishikori to lead 6-5 with his service to come.
This time, Nishikori delivered to reach the Roland Garros last eight for the third time, although his display suggests he is unlikely to progress further, with Nadal resting on his 33rd birthday on Monday.
