Third seed Stanislas Wawrinka takes on 15th Gael Monfils in the Men's singles fourth round of 2017 French Open in Paris on Monday.
Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, eased past world number 29 Fabio Fognini 7-6(2), 6-0 , 6-2 in his R32 clash on Saturday to extend his unbeaten run on clay this season to seven matches.
On the other hand, Monfils, whose 2017 season has been marred by multiple injury concerns, progressed to the last-16 round when his Saturday's opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew from the tie with an injury.
Wawrinka had a brilliant season on hard courts as he reached the semi-final of Australian Open and the final of Indian Wells and on both occasions lost to an unstoppable Roger Federer. However, on clay he had suffered with early exits at Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome Masters.
Wawrinka seemed to have shrugged off his poor form with a title-winning run at Geneva with wins over Sam Querrey and Mischa Zverev enroute to the finish on the top step of the podium. In Paris, the world number three has come up with comfortable wins against tricky opponents of the likes of Alexandr Dolgopolov and Fognini and is all set to meet Monfils only for the fifth time in his career.
Notably, the two players have shared honours with a 2-2 head-to-head record with Wawrinka winning their last meeting at 2011 Australian Open in straight sets. On Monday, their first meeting in clay could very well end in the Swiss star's favour as the Frenchman has had very little exposure to clay this season following his return from injury.
Given Wawrinka's ability to step up in Grand Slam tournaments, the home favourite needs to give his best to stand a chance of making the quarter-final.
