Stanislas Wawrinka and Gael Monfils are way past their primes, but Wednesday's second-round tussle at Wimbledon should be thrilling.
The 39-year-old Swiss defeated Briton Charles Broom in straight sets to set up a match against the entertaining Frenchman just two years his junior after the latter got the better of countryman Adrian Mannarino.
Match preview
Wawrinka hopes to roll back the years when he takes on Monfils in a low-profile match between two players who played their part in the 2010s despite the dominance of the "Big Three".
The Swiss notched three Slams, defeating Rafael Nadal in Australia in 2014 and Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros the following year before getting the better of the Serb again in the 2016 US Open final.
Wawrinka may not be at his physical best any more, but the 39-year-old's on-court brilliance persists, underlined by a straightforward 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Broom.
Monday's first-round match was the three-time Grand Slam champion's first on grass this season, and it was commendable that he played that well against the Wild Card, even if the opponent's quality adds the necessary context to that victory.
Having made the Wimbledon third round last year, the three-time Slam champion hopes to at least advance to a third match to match last year's progress and beat his best result this year after a first-round exit at the Australian Open and second-round elimination at Roland Garros.
Monfils aims to prevent his Swiss opponent from reaching the third round as he seeks the same objective after exiting Down Under and in Paris in the second round of both majors.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry ended the Frenchman's run in Australia, while Lorenzo Musetti beat the 37-year-old at the French Open, but he aims to be third-time lucky against Wawrinka.
Defeating his seeded compatriot Mannarino 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 was commendable, and it saw the older Frenchman continue his strong form on grass over the last week.
Monfils made it to the semi-finals at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca, keen to build momentum before Wimbledon, and he hopes that experience vis-a-vis Wawrinka's lack of playing time on grass in the lead-up to the tournament proper swings the match in his favour.
Tournament so far
Stanislas Wawrinka:
First round: vs. Charles Broom 6-3 7-5 6-4
Gael Monfils:
First round: vs. Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Head To Head
New Haven (2007) - Round of 32: Wawrinka 7-6[5] 6-4
Tokyo (2009) - Quarter-final: Monfils 2-6 6-3 6-4
Valencia (2010) - Round of 16: Monfils 6-2 6-4
Australian Open (2011) - Round of 32: Wawrinka 7-6[4] 6-2 6-3
Roland Garros (2017) - Round of 16: Wawrinka 7-5 7-6[7] 6-2
Rotterdam (2019) - Final: Monfils 6-3 1-6 6-2
Little or nothing separates Wawrinka and Monfils before their potential second-round match, with three wins each for both in their six previous match-ups.
Wednesday will be their third tussle at a Slam, with Wawrinka claiming the first at the 2011 Australian Open and the most recent at Roland Garris in 2017. Notably, this week's Wimbledon meeting will be the pair's first on grass, with five of their six battles coming on hard courts.
We say: Monfils to win in four sets
Wednesday's second-round match could go either way, with Monfils's grass-court run in Mallorca standing him in good stead against his opponent who played no pre-Wimbledon tournament in the lead-up to the third major of the year.
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