Gaël Monfils - fun on the "soccer" court with the Montreal Impact, not so much on the practice court at the Rogers Cup

MONTREAL – Gaël Monfils is only the No. 15 at this week's Rogers Cup. But the tournament schedulers know enough to know that the flashy Frenchman, paired with the mercurial and unpredictable Italian Fabio Fognini, is a popcorn first-round matchup worthy of the opening-night session.

Then again, it might be the worst tennis match of the week.

With those two, anything is possible, from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Monfils, who turns 29 in a few weeks, has a busy schedule. In addition to the singles, he's also playing doubles with countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. They get Aussies Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios in the first round, which will be another match you won't want to miss.

And, there was this little soccer match on Court Banque Nationale Sunday.

Monfils apparently wasn't too keen on playing – Rafael Nadal begged off, not wanting to take a chance on getting injured – but was talked into it by Tennis Canada high-performance head Louis Borfiga (who had a similar job in France when Monfils was coming up as teenager).

Of course, once he agreed to do it, he dominated.

On the practice court a few hours before?  Not so much.

Perhaps, when he gets on Stadium court Monday night – prime time – to face an opponent who has very much gotten under his skin in the past, he could light it up.