James Blake and Gael Monfils headline Thursday’s night session at the Brisbane International.

Monfils is battling through the pain barrier this week, struggling with some discomfort in his shoulder which clearly affects him when serving. He had to dig deep to get past countryman Florent Serra 6-7, 7-6, 6-1 in the second round.

Blake has not had things easy either. He ousted fifth seed Sam Querrey in three sets in the opening round and won a humdinger on Wednesday against the big serving Frenchman Marc Gicquel, saving three match points to get through 10-8 in the final set tiebreak.

The match will be a fascinating clash on styles with the flamboyant Blake against one of the best defensive players on the planet in Monfils. Both men are brilliant athletes so expect plenty of scintillating rallies.

Blake leads the head-to-head 2-1 but they have not played in the past three years.

Monfils is a narrow 8/11 favourite with Paddy Power while Blake is 6/5 with Boylesports.

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