Gael Monfils targets a 12th straight win when he faces countryman Richard Gasquet for the 18th time in the Dubai quarter-finals on Thursday night.

?? Gael Monfils [3] vs ?? Richard Gasquet Match Info

Date: Thursday February 27
Tournament: ATP Dubai QF
Court: Centre Court
Time: 8.30pm local time (4.30pm GMT)

Gael Monfils vs Richard Gasquet Head-to-Head

Monfils leads 10-7

2018 | Wimbledon R128 | Monfils 7-6(6) 7-5 6-4
2017 | Nottingham SF | Monfils 6-2 6-7(7) 7-6(4)
2017 | Halle R32 | Gasquet 3-6 6-4 6-3
2017 | Roland Garros R32 | Monfils 7-6(5) 5-7 4-3 RET
2017 | Marseille QF | Gasquet 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2
2015 | Montpellier SF | Gasquet 6-4 6-3
2014 | US Open R32 | Monfils 6-4 6-2 6-2
2014 | Montpellier Final | Monfils 6-4 6-4
2014 | Doha R16 | Monfils 6-2 7-5
2013 | Montpellier R16 | Gasquet 6-3 2-6 6-3
2011 | Barcelona R16 | Monfils 6-4 7-6(7)
2010 | Shanghai R32 | Gasquet 6-4 3-6 6-4
2010 | US Open R16 | Monfils 6-4 7-5 7-5
2009 | Metz SF | Monfils 6-4 6-3
2007 | Australian Open R32 | Gasquet 6-0 4-6 7-5 6-3
2005 | Metz QF | Monfils 7-6(3) 6-3
2004 | Metz QF | Gasquet 7-5 6-1

Gael Monfils vs Richard Gasquet Match Preview

Monfils goes in search of his 12th win on the trot and his 11th victory over Gasquet as the two French veterans renew their long-standing rivalry in the Dubai quarter-finals on Thursday.

It’s been a career-best start to a season for Monfils, with the Frenchman putting together his longest ever winning streak across his last three tournaments.

Indeed, Monfils is now 15-2 for 2020 so far, backing up title runs in Montpellier and Rotterdam from earlier this month by cruising through his first two matches in Dubai, toppling Marton Fucsovics 6-4 7-5 before crushing Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-1 6-2 in just 66 minutes on Wednesday night.

The 33-year-old hasn’t always been at his best during this current winning streak, but he has demonstrated a fighting spirit that we don’t always associate with the enigmatic Frenchman – and that’s been the key to his success. Monfils has only lost against Australian Open finalists Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem this season, with his best result coming when he successfully defended his ATP 500 Rotterdam title a couple of weeks ago, knocking off rising star Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final.

Monfils has quietly made his way back into the top 10 after an underrated last 12 months, which included winning one of the biggest titles of his career here in Rotterdam, while he also reached semi-finals at the Montreal Masters, Sofia, Dubai and Vienna, along with making the fourth round at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open.

A 12th straight win would see Monfils draw level with No. 8 Matteo Berrettini on ranking points – can he make a third straight semi-final?

Gasquet is a two-time semi-finalist in Dubai and has won back-to-back matches for just the second time since August this week, advancing to the quarter-finals without dropping a set in victories over Lloyd Harris and compatriot Benoit Paire. Those two semi-finals in Dubai came back in 2009 and 2011 – can the Frenchman return to the final four nine years later?

A former World No. 7 and three-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, along with reaching three Masters 1000 finals, Gasquet has had an extremely solid career since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old prodigy in 2002 and beating Roger Federer in Monte-Carlo three years later.

It’s safe to say Gasquet hasn’t lived up to the unfair hype since that triumph (he’s never won a title above 250 level), but he was a consistent member of the top 20 for over a decade before injuries started taking their toll.

Gasquet’s 2019 season didn’t start until May after he underwent groin surgery, but he climbed up the rankings to a current mark of No. 58 after reaching his first Masters 1000 semi-final since 2013 in Cincinnati, while he was also a semi-finalist in s-Hertogenbosch. However, a knee injury sidelined him at the end of the season for the Davis Cup Finals and also caused him to miss the Australian Open, with Gasquet returning in Montpellier, where he made the quarter-finals before bowing out in the first round of Marseille last week to Mikael Ymer.

Gael Monfils vs Richard Gasquet Prediction

This will be the pair’s first meeting on hardcourt in three years, with Gasquet winning their last two on the surface – and Monfils’ last win on hard coming in 2014. In saying that, Monfils is the man in form with all the momentum behind him at the moment – and he’s had the better of Gasquet more often than not. I think this will go three sets, but the amount of match-play Monfils has under his belt could end up proving pivotal.