Gael Monfils, will have to neutralize Roger Federer tomorrow

Mary Pierce’s countryman, Gael Monfils, will have to neutralize Roger Federer tomorrow if he has to move ahead in the ongoing French Open and make the quarter finals.

This is the 13^th time that Monfils is going to meet Federer on the tour.

The Swiss maestro has a lead of 8-4 over the Frenchman so far, but, the point to be noted is that quite a few times recently, Monfils has managed to run Federer close and has even ended on top occasionally.

So, Federer does not go into this as the hot favourite. It would be almost a 50-50 encounter to start with.

Talking to the press on the eve of the match, Federer also tried to suggest that Monfils is a far better player than he was a few years back and facing him these days is not easy at all.

In the words of the 17-time Grand Slam Champion, “It’s been tougher to face Gael off late. He has really grown as a player.”

Monfils’ confidence would be really high because of the fact that he already has a couple of wins over Federer this season and that too in big competitions like the Davis Cup and the Monte Carlo Masters.

Monfils also holds the home advantage. The crowd will be behind him.

Federer does not lack fans in France either and if he had been up against any other player, he would definitely have got most of the support, but, just because it’s Monfils, the crowd support might not be that big for the 33-year old.

You would find yourself in a bit of a dilemma if you have to put money on one of these two players. You might tend to tilt slightly towards Federer because of his experience, but, Monfils has become quite a force too in the men’s game recently. So, he has a good chance as well.