Thursday's stacked Monte Carlo lineup features Top 20 showdowns

Fifteen of the top sixteen ATP seeds have advanced to the Round of 16 at the Monte Carlo Masters, setting up a slate of blockbuster matches on Thursday.

Courtney Nguyen | Apr 15, 2015

Thursday's stacked Monte Carlo lineup features Top 20 showdowns /

Fifteen of the top sixteen seeds have advanced to the Round of 16 at the Monte Carlo Masters—the lone holdout was Ernests Gulbis, who bowed out winning just one game against Andreas Haider-Maurer—setting up a slate of blockbuster matches on Thursday.

First up on Court Central is No. 7 seed and defending champion Stan Wawrinka against No. 9 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Both men have been slumping over the last month—after winning in Rotterdam, Wawrinka has only won two matches in three tournaments, while Dimitrov has failed to win back-to-back matches in his last four tournaments since the Australian Open.

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Second on Court Central is Roger Federer vs. Gael Monfils. The Frenchman bested Alexandr Dolgopolov in an entertaining third round encounter 7–6 (5), 7–6 (6) and will look to replicate his win over Federer, also on clay, in last year's Davis Cup final. There, in one of the best performances of his career, Monfils blew past Federer 6–1, 6–4, 6–3.

"He has capacities that other players don't have, physically, also because of his power on the forehand and the backhand," Federer said. It is a real challenge to play him. Often the problem is not on your own racquet against him."

Especially when he's shaking and baking like he did against Dolgopolov:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmbn02vqjaM]

Rafael Nadal and John Isner are third in the lineup on Court Central. This is a tricky test for Nadal, who is 4-0 against Isner. This is their first meeting since the 2013 Cincinnati Masters, where Nadal won 7–6 (8), 7–6 (3) in the final. Nadal won his opening match easily against Lucas Pouille in Monte Carlo, saying afterwards it was his best performance of the year.

"Today, I played with no mistakes in a row," Nadal said. "I played aggressively when I had to play aggressive. I hit some good passing shots than [in] the past couple of months. [It is] a thing that I haven't been doing very well. I will go back to the hotel with [a] fantastic feeling, because I played probably the best match of the year for me."

Nadal is playing with a new Babolat record in Monte Carlo, after deciding to make the switch while training back in Mallorca after Miami. ''With this new racket, I have less control,'' Nadal said. ''Not today. In theory I have less control. In theory I have more power and more spin.''

Isner is coming off a very disappointing opening round loss to Teymuraz Gabashvili in Houston last week. He's rebounded with two solid wins this week, beating Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 and Viktor Troicki 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5). “I play the greatest clay-court player of all time tomorrow,“ Isner said. “It's going to be a big challenge for me. It's going to be a lot of fun. I've played him once before on clay, at Roland Garros, and I took him to five sets. I know I have a game that can disrupt him. It's going to very tough, but I'm going to go out there and have fun.“

Last on Court Central will be No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Haider-Maurer, who have never played against each other in their careers.

The remaining four matches will be played out on Monte Carlo's Court Des Princes. No. 4 seed Milos Raonic plays 16th seed Tommy Robredo, followed by No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych against No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, followed by No. 8 seed Marin Cilic plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Lastly, in what should be the most physically grueling match of the day, No. 5 seed David Ferrer faces off against No. 10 seed Gilles Simon.

GALLERY: EVOLUTION OF FASHION: RAFAEL NADAL (FULL SIZE)

The Evolution of Tennis Fashion: Rafael Nadal

2003

Here's 16-year-old Nadal, sporting his short-shorts and incredibly baggy T-shirt. Do those sleeves cover his elbow? Yes, they do.

2003

Still swimming in shirts -- and he wasn't the worst one at the tournament.

2003

Nadal's billowing shirt -- in a new, lime-green color -- makes it easier for torso exposure during the match.

2004

Still sticking with the white headband, Nadal finally opts for a better-fitting top.

2004

Nadal continues the aggressive look of his soon-to-be signature sleeveless shirt and makes his transformation into a style icon.

2004

A mustard yellow sleeveless top and thick, white wristbands for New York.

2005

The addition of his "piratas" marked the birth of Nadal's trademark look: sleeveless tops and capri-length pants.

2005

The beginning of Nadal's love for orange, and Nike's love for waved, two-toned designs.

2005

Nike put a green-spin on Rafa's signature style just in time for his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open.

2005

Rafa went with an all-white, collared and quarter-zip version of his sleeveless top for the All England Club.

2005

Nadal sported a rare monochrome top for his win over Andre Agassi in the final of the Rogers Cup.

2005

This skin-tight, sleeveless crop top was a one-time wonder at the U.S. Open, after Nadal lost in the third round.

2006

Back to orange -- and a distinctive Nadal dive -- at Indian Wells.

2006

Nike went with a two-toned sleeveless top for the French Open. Black in the back...

2006

...and Roger Federer-matching blue in the front. And with that, never again did Nike try to make two kits out of one swath of fabric for its two male stars.

2006

Rafa looks sleek and sharp in his Wimbledon whites, adorned with strokes of black.

2006

Stephen Hilger/Bloomberg News/Getty Images

Nadal got a brief respite from his capris with these long shorts for the summer. (He lost to Mikhail Youzhny in the quarterfinals at this U.S. Open.)

2006

Nadal embodies his country's colors with this red and yellow ensemble as he represented Spain at the Davis Cup.

2007

Back to the piratas, looking like a man prepared to hit the Australian Outback.

2007

Pirata twinsies!

2007

At this point it became clear that while Nike would kit Roger Federer out in conservative solid colors, Nadal was going to get the bold neon colors.

2008

Nadal in Karate Kid patterned headbands? No.

2008

Nadal goes green in his 2008 French Open winning kit.

2008

Greatest match of all time = Greatest kit of all time? Is that how it works?

2008

The orange headband and wristbands were odd, but Nadal's Spain kit was worthy of a gold medal in Beijing.

2008

Nike's insistence on putting random patterns on Rafa has always been a head-scratcher.

2009

Nike finally goes with a polo shirt with sleeves. And thus begins the fashion maturation of Rafa Nadal.

2009

An underrated kit. Simple, clean, but still fun.

2009

At this point it became clear that collars were not going to work on Rafa.

2009

Nadal's only loss at Roland Garros came in this garishly-pink collared shirt. Not a trophy-worthy look.

2009

Patterned shorts. Let's not.

2010

Then again, patterned shorts done right. The subtlety is key.

2010

Nadal wins his second Wimbledon title in a v-neck.

2010

This was 100 percent, hands down the best kit Rafa's ever worn. Darth Nadal was a treat.

2011

Nadal ended up tearfully losing to David Ferrer in the quarterfinals at this Australian Open, but all we can remember is his distractingly large t-shirt.

2011

Once again, bright solid colors to the rescue.

2011

Federer's Red vs. Nadal's Blue at the French Open.

2012

Somewhere along the line Nadal's shirts became much clingier.

2012

Victory Red.

2013

Sadly the sombrero was not a permanent accessory.

2013

A simple kit for Nadal's eighth French Open title.

2013

Slate bluish-grey with hot pink accents, Nike once again delivered for Rafa in New York.

2013

The era of short-shorts begins.

2014

No really, they got really short.

2014

A return to blue in Madrid.

2014

Nadal wins his ninth French Open in gray thigh-bearing shorts. Boxers, essentially.

Published Apr 15, 2015

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.