By Alberto Amalfi | Thursday, April 16, 2015

Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer squared off in an all-Swiss Monte-Carlo final last April.

Grigor Dimitrov and Gael Monfils denied the Swiss Davis Cup teammates a quarterfinal reunion clash today.

Video: Monfils' Fake and Bake

Dimitrov dismissed defending champion Wawrinka, 6-1, 6-2, in a 55-minute thrashing to reach the quarterfinals for the second time.

“I didn’t know where I was, but I was not on the court for sure.” said a disconsolate Wawrinka afterward. “The way it happened and the way I played upsets me. I don’t like losing like that. The only thing I can do now is accept that I played badly and try to find solutions and try to work on what I need to work on to solve the problem.”

The ninth-seeded Bulgarian broke five times and denied all six break points he faced to advance to his first quarterfinal since Brisbane in January.

“It’s definitely one of the good wins for me, this year,” Dimitrov said in his post-match press conference. “I had a really tough draw, but I jumped out the blocks pretty fast. It was a good match for me today. I knew Stan wasn’t at his best, but I think I was the cause of that. I got the momentum really early in the match and that helped me a lot. After that it was pretty easy for me.”

A focused Monfils rallied from a break down to defeat Federer, 6-4, 7-6 (5). It was the wild card's second straight clay-court win over the world No. 2. Monfils swept Federer, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3, in the Davis Cup final last November.

The flashy Monfils hit 22 winners compared to 17 for Federer, who betrayed his own cause with 38 unforced errors. Monfils denied Federer a shot to join Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo as the fourth man to register at least 200 career ATP wins on both hard court and clay court. Federer led 5-3 in the second-set tie break, but could not close.

“It was not the best end to the match, that’s for sure,” Federer told the media in Monte Carlo. “I think I did a good job to hang around in the second set. I also had chances of my own. It remained close, but I never felt like things were really happening the way I wanted them to be going during the whole match. The way I felt at 5-3 sort of showed how I really felt, I guess.

“It’s the very beginning of the clay-court season. It’s going to take me some time to feel 100 percent comfortable. Not many guys are perfect this week. But it was a good week for me anyways to come here and practice with the best, play a couple of matches. At least gives me some information, if I’m trying to be a bit positive right now."

The second-seeded Swiss jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Monfils went to work on Federer's one-handed backhand and that tactic paid dividends.

On a cloudy start to the day, conditions were heavier than they were for Federer's opening victory over Jeremy Chardy. The slower conditions, combined with Monfils' blazing court coverage, created issues for Federer who was not penetrating the court with his backhand.

A Federer backhand error gave Monfils the break and a 5-4 first-set lead. Playing almost exclusively to the Swiss' one-hander in the next game, Monfils drew a slice backhand error followed by another errant backhand to take the opening set.

Staring down a break point at 5-5, Federer slice an ace out wide to save it, eventually holding. Monfils threw down a love hold to force the tie break.

Four-time finalist Federer was the aggressor in the breaker, seizing a 5-3 lead. But the Swiss hooked a backhand wide giving back the mini-break then netted his favored forehand.

The 14th-seeded Frenchman closed the one hour, 44-minute victory when Federer scattered a forehand error.

“Of course, I was really hoping to do better because I felt there was an opportunity," Federer said. "Unfortunately, Gaël played well today. It was always going to be a tough match.”

Monfils has won two of three meetings with quarterfinal opponent Dimitrov, including a straight-sets win in the 2014 U.S. Open round of 16.