Top seed Novak Djokovic is carrying on where he left off on North American hard courts when he completed the Sunshine Double for the fourth time in his career back in April and the world number one is looking to extend his record to 30 Masters 1000 titles this week at the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Gael Monfils, the tenth seed has matured this year and after winning the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500, Citi Open in Washington, he will be full of confidence going into this semifinal clash with Djokovic at the Rogers Cup despite trailing their head-to-head 11-0.
The three-time champion is the sole representative of the "Big Four" participating in Toronto as the defending champion Andy Murray is recuperating following his third Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon.
Roger Federer is also absent as he is currently on the injured list and fellow three-time champion Rafael Nadal is not at 100% to compete and wants to be fully fit for the Olympics.
The Frenchman reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the Miami Open losing to Grand Slam finalists Milos Raonic twice and Kei Nishikori at the latter, but he reached the final at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters losing to Nadal in three entertaining sets.
Unfortunately, Monfils was ruled out of the French Open due to a virus and he lost in the first round of Wimbledon in five sets to his compatriot Jeremy Chardy despite leading by a set and two sets to one, however he has since rediscovered the form that he showed throughout the first four months of the season.
Djokovic suffered a disappointing third round exit at the hands of Sam Querrey at Wimbledon but he captured the Coupe des Mosquetaires for the first time in his career to secure the Career Grand Slam and his 12th Grand Slam triumph overall.
Djokovic's route to the semifinals
The top seed received a first round bye and in his second round match, he encountered Gilles Muller, who was a runner-up to Ivo Karlovic in Newport a few weeks ago.
The win wasn't straightforward for the Serb as he failed to serve out the victory in the second set, however, he regrouped and defeated the big-server from Luxembourg, 7-5, 7-6 to reach the third round in Toronto.
In the third round, Djokovic faced Radek Stepanek and the veteran from the Czech Republic was two points away from upsetting Andy Murray in the first round of the French Open but the top seed registered a 6-2, 6-4 victory despite finding himself a break down in the second set and reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive year at the Rogers Cup.
Djokovic faced Stepanek's compatriot, the fifth seed Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals and it wasn't a pretty match for the Serb as he squandered a 5-2 lead in the opening set and eventually won the first set 7-6 in a tiebreak but he saved three set points in the opening set tiebreak.
The Serb went on to win the match 7-6, 6-4 and he is now 21-0 on hard courts against Berdych and it was his 12th consecutive victory over the Czech.
Monfils' route to the semifinals
Monfils won the title in Washington over Karlovic on Sunday and he was back on the court on Tuesday against Joao Sousa and the tenth seed didn't get the luxury of receiving a bye.
However, the French number two didn't let that bother him as he dispatched Portugal's number one 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round in Toronto.
Monfils registered another straight sets victory over 2013 Rogers Cup semifinalist Vasek Pospisil 7-6, 6-0 despite a mini rain delay intervening in the match.
The toughest match for Monfils was in the third round against seventh seed David Goffin and the Frenchman had a lull in the second set but he registered a confidence boosting 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 victory over the French Open quarterfinalist.
In the quarterfinals, Monfils was up against Milos Raonic, the player who halted his progress at the Australian Open and Indian Wells but the Frenchman gained his revenge for those two losses and defeated the big-serving Canadian 6-4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals in Toronto.
Their history
As aforementioned, Djokovic leads their head-to-head 11-0 and three of their meetings have taken place at Grand Slams, six times in Masters 1,000 events, once in the Olympics and once in the Davis Cup so the duo only meet in important competitions.
The pair's meetings have predominately taken place on hard courts and once on clay.
Djokovic won their first meeting in the first round of the US Open in 2005 and it was a five-set epic which the Serb came through, and he followed this victory in the fourth round of the French Open in 2006 which was a straight sets victory.
The world number one won their meeting two years later at the Olympics coming back from a set down to register a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory in the quarterfinals and the Serb went on to leave Beijing with a Bronze medal.
They had another three-set tussle in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Monfils' country of France and this was followed by a straight sets victory in the 2010 US Open quarterfinals, and they met in the Davis Cup final which the Serb won in straight sets and Serbia went on to win the competition.
The duo met in back-to-back Masters 1,000 quarterfinals in 2011 at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Djokovic and the charismatic Frenchman only met once in 2013 and it was their fifth meeting in a quarterfinal in Shanghai and the Serb won their two most recent meetings in the second round of the Rogers Cup in 2014 which was a tough three set encounter and in the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters in 2014.
Who wins?
Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite in this contest against Monfils, however, Djokovic can be there for the taking and this is Monfils' best chance to register his first win over the world number one.
The Frenchman with his new found attitude would have taken advantage of those set points opportunities that Berdych squandered and Monfils saved all four break points that Raonic created.
The world number one usually plays his way into tournament draws but we haven't seen the best of Djokovic this week in Toronto, although we have seen glimpses of it in some of his matches this week.
Monfils has been serving well this week and returning exceptionally well and he has the tools of putting pressure on Djokovic's serve, however, Monfils will have to work for his points and the Serb has the ability to make this a physically battle and Monfils could feel fatigued in this semifinal match but the Frenchman will need to try to keep the points short.
Djokovic was frustrated in his quarterfinal encounter with Berdych as he smashed his racquet and got irritated with the crowd but with this match taking place at the night session, Monfils thrives on it and could have the crowd on his side.
The Frenchman has the opportunity to get back inside the top ten if he is able to defeat Djokovic and if he wins the Rogers Cup he will be ranked at number nine in the world, two off his career high ranking.
This semifinal match between Djokovic and Monfils will take place on Centre Court at not before 8pm and the winner of this match will face second seed Stan Wawrinka or third seed Kei Nishikori in the final.
Prediction: Djokovic in straight sets.