Daniil Medvedev takes out a spry Gael Monfils at the Monte-Carlo Masters

Daniil Medvedev has an interesting game. Stefanos Tsitsipas once called his style "boring," but the Russian seems to be a constant in the top four of men's tennis by playing in a way no one else does. He appears incapable of simply overpowering his opponent. Instead, he lulls his foe into a false sense of comfort before the opponent looks at the score to realize they are down a set and a break or two in the second set.

This is what happened to Gael Monfils in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Wednesday. Choosing to mostly stay back and swing away with Medvedev. This would prove to be a mistake as the Russian won 6-2 6-4. From the beginning, Medvedev was happy getting into long rallies and allowing Monfils to make a mistake.

Medvedev is nothing if not a metronome. He can serve and return as long as his opponent wants to. The Russian rarely beats himself even though he does not have the power, or even the touch, of players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. This is one reason Medvedev's worst surface is clay. The pace he can put on balls is muted so that players of the same caliber can outhit him.

Daniil Medvedev into the third round in Monte-Carlo after defeating Gael Monfils

But Monfils could not. The Frenchman had a chance, however. He led 4-2 in the second set looking to force the match into a third and final set. But he would not win another game and was broken twice for Medvedev to close out the match.

Daniil Medvedev will now face another Russian, and his friend, Karen Khachanov in the third round. Khachanov defeated Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the second round in three sets. Cerundolo is a solid clay player so Khachanov's victory might be even more impressive than Medvedev's was over Monfils. Medvedev leads the head-to-head 5-1 and the only time Khachanov defeated his friend was in 2018.

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