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 Defending champion Wawrinka put up only token resistance as his game
fell apart in a 55-minute 6-1 6-2 rout at the hands of Bulgarian
Grigor Dimitrov on Center Court.
World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia did not face a single
break point as he went through with a 6-4 6-0 win over unseeded
Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer.
He will meet Croatian eighth seed Marin Cilic who beat Frenchman
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 7-6(5).
Third seed Rafa Nadal, who ruled in Monte Carlo from 2005-12,
overcame John Isner, but was given a fright.
The Spaniard had to save two set points in the opening set and then
found himself pegged back before advancing to the last eight 7-6(6)
4-6 6-3.
Nadal broke decisively in the fourth game of the third set to set up
a meeting with Spanish fifth seed David Ferrer or Frenchman Gilles
Simon.
Dimitrov will face Monfils in the quarter-finals after the French
showman, decked out in green and black stripes, saw off second seed
Federer in a high-quality contest.
Federer, beaten by Wawrinka in last year's final, moved 3-1 ahead
courtesy of an early break but Monfils hit straight back and then
outplayed the Swiss from the baseline to break again at 4-4 before
clinching the opener.
The second set went with serve and Federer built a 5-3 lead in the
tiebreak before losing four points in a row.
"It was not the best end to the match," Federer told reporters. "I
should have done better with the break up in the first. I think I
did a good job to hang around the second set. I also had chances of
my own.
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"I never felt like things were really happening the way I wanted
them to be going during the whole match."
Federer said he would now return to Switzerland to prepare for more
claycourt action in Istanbul and Madrid.
Wawrinka also looked like he needs some practice.
The seventh seed hit 41 unforced errors as he went down tamely.
"I don't like losing like that," the 30-year-old said.
"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 problems."
(Writing by Julien Pretot, editing by Martyn Herman and Pritha
Sarkar)
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