It is never easy when talking about Gael Monfils. The 26-year-old Frenchman is a showman by nature, but sometimes that gets in the way of him simply playing good tennis and winning conventional points.

Case and point, his quarterfinal match on Friday at the Gerry Weber Open. Monfils was up a set on Tommy Haas and had an easy lob to take a 30-15 lead in the game when Monfils did something only Monfils would do.

Instead of just slamming the lob and taking the easy point, he did something that we've never seen before in tennis; let the ball bounce between his legs, spinning around and then hitting the slam.

The antics were impressive, but unnecessary, and Monfils ended up not only losing an easy point he should have won, but the match to Haas 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3.

Monfils already said he wouldn't be at Wimbledon because of some personal issues, but it's moments like this that make you both amazed and confused at what Monfils is really trying to do with his tennis. There is a difference

Rafael Nadal — Getty ImagesRafael Nadal is now in a class of his own in tennis history after winning his eighth French Open title on Sunday at Roland Garros, becoming the only man in tennis history to win the same Grand Slam eight times.

Nadal took out fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in what can only be considered a victory lap of sorts for the now 12-time Grand Slam champion.

Face it, the French Open finals was an epic five-set match that pitted the top two tennis players in the world against each other in Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the one problem being that the winner still had one more ceremonial match to play before he could accept the trophy.

This was it, and it was everything that you'd expect from a man that has made his living beating professionals on clay. Nadal is now an astonishing 59-1 at the French Open, winning eight of the last nine championships in Paris and doing it in a style that says he isn't going anywhere soon.

Ferrer was a formidable opponent in the sense that games lasted longer

There was an unsettling moment during the second set of the French Open that had most fans thinking back 20 years ago to a horrific episode with Monica Seles.

Rafael Nadal was up 4-1 in the second set of the French Open finals when a protest broke out in the upper section of Chatrier, and after getting broke by David Ferrer it was up to Nadal to serve for a 2-0 set lead when a man with a flare ran on the court, sending Nadal for the court exit before the man was detained.

No real news on what the man was thinking, but he had a flare and it was a very scary situation for a moment before he was tackled and the flare was extinguished.

Nadal was then forced to serve for the second set, which he did successfully, and it seems not even a crazed fan is going to stop Nadal from becoming the first man in tennis history to win the same Grand Slam eight times.

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• Rafael Nadal makes history with his eighth French Open title
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Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams — Getty Images

The two biggest stars on the women's side of the draw met in the finals of the 2013 French Open and for Serena Williams fans it went as expected.

Williams, who won her sole French Open title heading into Saturday at Roland Garros 11 years ago to the day, has been dominating opponents these last two weeks, dropping just a single set. That continued in her matchup with Maria Sharapova as she took out the defending champion 6-4, 6-4.

Serena continued to pound her serve, hitting 10 aces in two sets and winning not only 69 percent of her first serves, but 77 percent of her second serves. Her start was a bit surprising, going down 0-2 in the first set, but Sharapova couldn't get any rhythm with her serve as Williams continued to jump on anything that was hit her way.

At one point in the match, Sharapova hit her hardest serve of the match only to see it pounded back past her feet for a Serena winner.

Williams has now won 16 Grand Slams including two French Open titles and became the oldest player

Rafael Nadal — Getty Images

No offense to the great play of David Ferrer, who advanced to his first Grand Slam final on Friday, but the five-set match between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal was incredible.

Each set had a personality of its own, with the first being just what Nadal does to his opponents, the second showing just how improved Novak has become, the third was simple dominance on clay by the seven-time champion, the fourth showing the fortitude of Djokovic and the fifth was just two giants of the game battling until one couldn't stand any longer.

The final will most likely be a bit of a downer considering this semifinals match against the two biggest names in the game, but we at least got to watch Nadal and Djokovic go at each other with everything they've got.

David Ferrer — Getty ImagesThis is the look of a man that just made his first ever Grand Slam final.

"Rafa is the best player in the world on clay. He's the favorite in the final." - David Ferrer

The women's final is scheduled for Saturday, as Serena Williams and Maria

Rafael Nadal — Getty ImagesSome thought we might finally see the changing of the guard on Friday at the French Open with Rafael Nadal and his complete domination of this clay surface. Facing the No. 1-ranked player in the world in Novak Djokovic, the match was expected to be every bit as exciting as the hype, and it lived up to everything one would expect between these two.

Nadal beat Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7 in what can only be described as another classic match between these two legends, a match that you could never really get a feel for until the very end. Nadal will now face the winner of the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga-David Ferrer match, and moves to an astonishing 58-1 in his career at the French Open.

It started off as you might expect. Nadal and Djokovic traded early blows, with Nadal breaking Djokovic at 4-3 and holding serve to snag the first set. The second set was the oddest, with Nadal breaking Djokovic again at 3-2 but then dropping three straight games to Novak, who squared the match at a set

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal — Getty ImagesOn Friday morning at 7 AM ET, Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open.

The two have played 34 times since their first meeting at the 2006 French Open, with Nadal winning 19 times to Djokovic's 15, and while it's been close in that regard, it hasn't been so close at this event.

Nadal is 4-0 against Djokovic at the French Open, dropping just a single set to the No. 1 ranked player in the world and that took place in the 2012 finals.

The one bonus for Djokovic fans is the fact that he beat Nadal on clay earlier this year at the Monte Carlo finals in straight sets, so that will definitely be something that Novak will be looking at as he enters this Grand Slam match.

The rest of their head-to-head results are after the jump, courtesy of the tennis databank.

Getty Images

The match of the day belonged to Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, who went the distance in their semifinal match on Thursday at the French Open, but it's Serena Williams who is simply playing the best matches of this entire tournament.

Serena, who has only won one French Open in her career, way back in 2002, is playing a level of tennis right now that not only is dominating opponents, but almost looks boring to be a part of because it's so perfect. Williams beat Sara Errani 6-0, 6-1 in her semifinal match, advancing to her first finals since '02 and it looks like it will take a miracle for Sharapova to even make this finals go three sets, let alone win.

Serena leads 13-2 head-to-head against Sharapova and is coming off a match that took just 46 minutes and saw Williams hit 40 winners to just 12 unforced errors. Serena won 82 percent of her first serves and 88 percent of her second serves and was so dominating that it didn't even look like after her match that she had broke a sweat on Chatrier.

Sharapova will come out on Saturday with a game plan, but I'm not sure there is something that would work against Serena considering how she's hitting the ball right now.

It has been a dominating tournament for Williams, who has dropped just one set in her six matches, and it looks like she will be adding Grand Slam title number 16 to her resume in just a couple of days.