View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Thursday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win! 
Nadal v Zverev  |  Djokovic v Carreno Busta  |  Wawrinka v Cuevas  |  Murray v Ramos-Vinolas  

View Thursday schedule.

Alexander Zverev celebrates his 20th birthday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Thursday with a third-round showdown against nine-time champion Rafael Nadal. Zverev earned 75 wins and two titles as a teen, but he’s 0-2 against the 30-year-old Spaniard. Nadal saved a match point to edge Zverev at 2016 Indian Wells before beating the German in five sets at the 2017 Australian Open.

Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, winners of the last 12 Monte-Carlo titles, are all in action on Court Rainier III. Djokovic meets No. 13 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, who is 0-15 against Top 10 opponents and won only one game against the World No. 2 in this round three years ago. Also seeking the biggest win of his career is Pablo Cuevas, who faces the World No. 3 Wawrinka.

Top seed Andy Murray continues his quest for one of the two ATP Masters 1000 titles still missing from his trophy case. The three-time semi-finalist gets play underway at 11 am local time against 15th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain. Should he pull off the upset, Ramos-Vinolas will earn his first victory over a World No. 1 and his first place in an ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

Top 10 seeds clash on Court Des Princes when No. 5 seed Marin Cilic meets No. 9 seed Tomas Berdych and No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem takes on No. 10 seed David Goffin. Berdych has lost seven straight matches against Top 10 opponents, while Cilic hasn’t beaten a player ranked as high as Berdych this season. Goffin leads all players with 21 wins in 2017. Thiem is fifth with 18 wins.

Also on Court Des Princes, 2016 Australian Open doubles semi-finalists Lucas Pouille and Adrian Mannarino face off and Diego Schwartzman meets Jan-Lennard Struff. Schwartzman, Struff and Mannarino are a win from the biggest quarter-final of their singles careers. Mannarino and Struff could also become the first qualifiers in the Monte-Carlo quarter-finals since Fred Gil in 2011.

Top singles stars including Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic took the court for doubles on Wednesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, but it was the top-seeded doubles pairings who moved into the quarter-finals with impressive wins. 

Djokovic and Viktor Troicki fell 6-3, 6-4 to top seeds Henri Kontinen/John Peers. The top-ranked doubles team saved all nine break points they faced to advance in 65 minutes. They’ll play the winner between fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, and Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas. Bopanna/Cuevas won the lone first-round match of the day over Marcin Matkowski and Alexander Peya 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-2.

Second seeds and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut defeated Wawrinka and Fabio Fognini 7-5, 6-2. Herbert/Mahut went on a nine-game run from 3-5 down in the first set. Next up for them is sixth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, who moved into the last eight over French duo Benoit Paire and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-2.

Listen To Tennis Radio

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo scored a thrilling 6-1, 6-7(4), 14-12 victory over brothers Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev. Kubot/Melo saved a match point at 11/12 before converting on their fourth match point to advance in one hour and 29 minutes. Awaiting them in the quarter-finals is the winner between sixth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, and Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

Monaco native Romain Arneodo delighted the home crowd with partner Hugo Nys as the wild card pair defeated eighth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 7-5, 7-6(2). They’ll continue their dream run on Friday against third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares or Tommy Haas and Treat Huey.

It was standing-room only inside Court Rainier III as Rafael Nadal and Kyle Edmund battled on Wednesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, so a tennis-loving bird decided to get a literal courtside seat.

With Nadal serving in the deciding set at 4-3, 40/30, the plucky bird perched itself on top of the net. A ball boy shooed him away, but the bird responded by flying onto the court as the crowd applauded. The determined animal was chased off before returning to the court for a third time, but begrudgingly plopped down at the edge of the stands at long last.

The stubborn bird even reminded some fans of their own feathered friends.

The brief delay didn’t disrupt Nadal, who won the final two games to prevail 6-0, 5-7, 6-3. Read Full Match Report

Listen To Tennis Radio

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Thursday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win! 
Nadal v Zverev  |  Djokovic v Carreno Busta  |  Wawrinka v Cuevas  |  Murray v Ramos-Vinolas  

View Monte-Carlo Daily Schedule

Rafael Nadal opened with a stern test at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Wednesday at the start of his attempt to capture a 10th crown in the Principality. The fourth seed, who improved to 59-4 at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, did not have things his own way after a stunning first-set performance against Kyle Edmund in a 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 victory that lasted two hours and 19 minutes.

Nadal now goes on to meet #NextGenATP and No. 14 seed Alexander Zverev. The German leads the Emirates ATP Race To Milan for a spot at the 21-and-under #NextGenATP Finals from 7-11 November.

Buy Tickets

Many have been humbled on clay by Nadal, but Edmund continued to vary his game in an attempt to figure out a way into his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against the ‘King of Clay’. Nadal so often closed the door with deft flicks and incredible pace off his forehand in the opening set, and, in losing just three points on serve, it was the 10th bagel set that Nadal has dished out at the Monte-Carlo Country Club.

The capacity crowd cheered loudly when the 22-year-old Edmund held serve to 15 at the start of the second set. Fans continued to support the Briton as he moved from a 1-2 deficit to a 4-2 lead. Nadal regrouped at one of the three tournaments where he has won nine trophies (also the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and at Roland Garros) to draw level before Edmund regained control of the baseline rallies and a secure footing. In continuing to press Nadal by advancing up the court, Edmund converted his first set point chance when Nadal shanked a backhand wide.

Listen To Tennis Radio

 Watch Live On TennisTV

 Watch Full Match Replays

Hundreds of supporters without Court Rainier III tickets flocked to the big screens around the grounds to watch the match as the tension between the lines continued to build. In an extraordinary four-game spell, Nadal saved one break point at 1-2, then there were three straight service breaks, with Edmund giving Nadal a 4-3 advantage after one of his forehands found the net. Edmund continued to fight, but Nadal broke once again, pumping his first at the end when Edmund tamely netted a slice backhand.

It was the 400th match of Nadal’s illustrious career on red dirt (366-34), and he has the best winning percentage on the surface (.915) in the Open Era. He is now 20-5 on the season, which includes runner-up finishes at the Australian Open (l. to Federer), the Abierto Mexicano Telcel (l. to Querrey) and the Miami Open presented by Itau (l. to Federer).

Earlier in the day, this year’s Open Sud de France titlist Zverev defeated Nadal’s compatriot Feliciano Lopez 6-0, 6-4 in 60 minutes. Nadal leads Zverev 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a five-set victory at the Australian Open in January.