In an offense-versus-defense battle at Margaret Court Arena, No. 6 seed Gael Monfils needed only three sets to get past 33-year-old Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Monfils won comfortably, 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-4.
The Frenchman got into some early trouble in the first set, needing to fight off a break point at 1-1. Later in the frame, Kohlschreiber was down a break point of his own, and ended up missing a slice backhand long, which he challenged, unsuccessfully. This put Monfils up 5-3.
Serving for the set, Monfils did some kind of insane spinning, jumping forehand thing that caused Kohlschreiber to miss his forehand volley into the net.
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Monfils went on to hold and win the set.
To start the second, Monfils broke once again, taking his fourth game in a row. Kohlschreiber broke right back, though, not letting the human highlight reel run away with the match just yet.
Then a third consecutive break happened when Kohlschreiber netted a slice backhand, putting Monfils up 2-1. Monfils, in his effort to consolidate, faced (and overcame) another break point, holding on an overhead winner.
In the game that followed, Monfils went down 30-40, but was able to serve and smash his way to a 3-1 lead anyway.
Later on, Kohlschreiber broke for 5-5, and the set eventually went to a tiebreak. Monfils jumped ahead early, winning the first four points. Monfils went on to win the breaker 7-1 by beautifully painting the corner of the court with a forehand winner.
In the third and final set, the players exchanged early breaks, ending up still on serve by the time it was 5-4. But four unforced errors from Kohlschreiber practically handed Monfils the game, the set and the match.
“It was a great match. I think I was very solid. I served quite good. I tried to use my forehand today and tried to move him a lot. And I actually played tough. In the second set, I think I dropped a little bit of focus and tried to be aggressive and change the rhythm — a lot of chips. I think I found my way back after,” Monfils said in his on-court interview.
Monfils’s next opponent will be Rafael Nadal, who won a five-set thriller over 19-year-old phenom Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2.
World No. 3 Milos Raonic defeated 25th seed Giles Simon 6-2, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3. Raonic will face Roberto Bautista Agut in Round 4.
