Gael Monfils made adjustments all match long Thursday. The balls were soft, so he had to hit his serve flatter. When his powerful baseline shots were missing, he went to the net.

Off the court, Monfils, a 21-year-old from Paris, is also making adjustments. He’s planning to move to Florida from Switzerland to train with his new coach, Tarik Benhabiles, who replaced Oliver Delataitre earlier this year.

Nicknamed “Force,” Monfils offers a devastating serve that topped out at 145 mph against Michael Berrer, who he defeated 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3 to advance to Legg Mason quarterfinals. It is his third quarterfinal appearance in what has been a tumultuous year. He has bowed out in the first round 10 times this year and saw his ATP ranking drop to 78 in May, its lowest point since June of 2005.

In 2004, Monfils burst on to the scene with junior titles at Wimbledon, French Open and the U.S. Open. He only dropped two sets in those three wins and looked to be the next young star. He was ranked the No. 3 Frenchman in 2005 and held the No. 23 ranking in June of 2006, the highest of his career.

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Already a big target with the French media, he might have opened some eyes with the American media when he beat Andy Roddick in the ATP Masters Series in Rome in 2006.

Monfils’ 4 p.m. match didn’t draw many fans initially, but they filed in steadily towards the end, perhaps to get good seats for Roddick’s match a couple hours later. They quickly adopted Monfils as the favorite, chanting his name and giving him encouragement.

It seems like his name is starting to get out here in the States, but Monfils won’t go that far.

“We’ll see.”

Today’s matches

2 p.m. » Center Court: John Isner vs. Tommy Haas

4 p.m. » Center Court: Gael Monfils vs. Robin Haase/Marat Safin

4 p.m. » Grandstand: Paul Capdeville vs. Ivo Karlovic

7 p.m. » Center Court: Andy Roddick vs. Hyung-Taik Lee