Monfils isn’t such a good match for Nadal.  You would think he would be.  Tall, French, and flashy, you might think his athleticism would make a difference.

But there are reasons Nadal tends to own Monfils.  First, Nadal is quick enough that even when Monfils goes for a big shot and makes it, Nadal is there to force him to hit another shot.  Monfils is flashy, but that means he makes great shots and he misses makeable shots.  For him to beat Nadal, he has to hit 2, 3, 4 hard shots in a row, because Nadal makes you do that.

Nadal, for his part, was also looking for the lapses in Monfils’ game where he’d drop a ball in the middle and then he’d pounce with a huge inside out forehand.  Nadal plays Monfils very aggressively so he can open up the court and prevent Monfils from even reaching the ball.

Monfils normally plays a relatively passive style.  He’s so quick that he baits his opponent to get in a rally before he goes after a big shot.  Of course, against Nadal, nearly everyone who plays this style has to resort to playing more aggressive, because if you play too passive, Nadal will pounce forcing you from corner to corner before, bam, hitting a winner.

And Monfils, like Murray, can hit a big shot, but he’s so inconsistent, whether it be a huge forehand or a drop shot.  He has to be able to pressure without errors and Monfils game and temperament aren’t suited to that.

In the meanwhile, Nadal cruises to a 6-2 6-2 win.  Up next is the winner of Lopez or Dodig.  Dodig has had a pretty good tournament.  He upset Soderling, had a close win over Raonic.  I’m guessing he’s got the edge over Lopez, but either should be fodder for Nadal.

The other quarterfinals are intruiguing.  In the toughest match of the day, David Ferrer plays Jurgen Melzer, and in the “blast from the past”, Juan Carlos Ferrero plays hard hitting Nicolas Almagro.  At this point, Melzer is the last non-Spaniard standing.

With Nadal’s win, he reaches 499 match wins.  He should reach 500 with a semifinal victory.  This will make him the second youngest to reach 500 (behind Bjorn Borg).  He would only be ahead of Lendl and McEnroe by about a month or so, so it’s not like he’s way ahead of his competition.