ROGER FEDERER ROLLS OVER BAUTISTA AGUT, TO FACE TSONGA IN MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TENNIS QUARTERFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 14th April 2016

ROGER FEDERER ROLLS OVER BAUTISTA AGUT, TO FACE TSONGA IN MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TENNIS QUARTERFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

epa05258717 Roberto Bautista Agut (bottom) of Spain serves to Roger Federer of Switzerland during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 14 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Roger Federer advanced to the quarterfinals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters by taking care of Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-4 on Thursday afternoon. Federer saved all three of the break points he faced to get the job done in only one hour and eight minutes. Bautista Agut is now 0-5 lifetime against the 34-year-old Swiss and 0-12 in total sets.

“As the match progressed, I felt better and better,” said Federer, who is playing his first event since the Australian Open. “Once I made the break, I was able to relax a little more. I felt good. In the beginning of the second, I could have made more breaks; so it could have gone my way very early. I’m happy with what I did. He’s a good player.”

Bautista Agut is now 0-20 in his last 20 matches against top-10 opponents other than Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Speaking of Tsonga, that’s who Federer will face in the quarters.

“I don’t know what his favorite surface is,” the former world No. 1 said of Tsonga. “But on clay we play well, both of us. I really didn’t see him play recently. I don’t remember seeing any of his matches during the past six months. I don’t know where I was. I don’t even know which tournaments he played.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga of France returns the ball to Lucas Pouille of France during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 14 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

“But I like his game. I like his power, his capacity to move forward with his forehand. I’ve seen wonderful matches of him against the best players, and also against me.”

Ricky’s picks for the top-half quarterfinals:

(3) Roger Federer vs. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Federer and Tsonga will renew their rivalry on Friday. The two veterans have squared off on 16 previous occasions but not once since the summer of 2014. Federer leads the head-to-head series 11-5, including 3-1 on clay. He most recently prevailed on the red stuff via a 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1 decision in the quarters of this same Monte-Carlo event two years ago. Tsonga avenged that setback a few months later by defeating Federer 7-5, 7-6(3) in the Toronto final.

This is Federer’s first appearance since the Aussie Open, as he was in February by a knee injury before withdrawing from Miami because of illness. The world No. 3 has wasted no time getting back in a groove with straight-set victories over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Bautista Agut. Tsonga has bounced back from a Miami loss to Bautista Agut by defeating Pablo Carreno Busta and Lucas Pouille. The ninth-ranked Frenchman is a decent 13-6 for the year. 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.

Pick: Federer in 3

(13) Gael Monfils vs. (LL) Marcel Granollers

Monfils and Granollers will be facing each other for the fifth time in their careers when they clash in what has to be considered a shocking quarterfinal matchup on Friday. Granollers did not even expect to be in the main draw, as he got crushed by Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-0 in the final round of qualifying. The Spaniard ended up getting a lucky-loser spot–and a bye straight to the second round–when countryman David Ferrer withdrew due to a calf injury. As for Monfils, he could not have liked his chances of getting past round three when the draw was revealed. That’s because found himself in the same section as Novak Djokovic, but the top-seeded Serb lost his opening match to Jiri Vesely.

Gael Monfils of France returns the ball to Paolo Lorenzi of Italy during their second round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 13 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Capitalizing on the opportunity, Monfils followed up routine wins over Gilles Muller and Paolo Lorenzi by destroying Vesely 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday. The 16th-ranked Frenchman is an outstanding 18-5 for the season. Granollers advanced to the last eight by taking out Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 and David Goffin 7-6(1), 6-4. The world No. 67 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 thrashed by Gimeno-Traver beating a focused and motivated Monfils.

Pick: Monfils in 2