Eight-time winner Rafael Nadal recovered from a set down to beat Britain’s Andy Murray to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final.
Murray broke twice to take the opening set 6-2, but wilted under the Spaniard’s power and accuracy to lose the next two 6-4 6-2.
The win was Nadal’s seventh over Murray in eight meetings on clay and puts him into his 100th ATP World Tour final.
He faces Gael Monfils who beat fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 6-3.
Murray beat Nadal for the first time on clay in last year’s Madrid Masters final, but his hopes of being only the third player to earn back-to-back victories over the world number five on the surface were dashed in a brutal two-and-a-half-hour encounter.
It was a match high on quality but also rancour, with both players being irked by some controversial umpiring decisions.
The match began bizarrely when Murray won the coin toss, but umpire Damien Dumusois of France asked Nadal if he wanted to serve.
Nadal pointed out the umpire’s error, but Murray graciously asked for it to be re-done, and he won that, too. This time he was asked his preference and elected to serve.
Murray was irked throughout by a lack of action from the umpire over Nadal continually breaking the 25-second rule between serves. The Spaniard was averaging 31 seconds, allowing him more time to recover.
The Scot’s patience was further tested midway through the third set when Nadal delayed his serve by claiming he had something in his eye. At the next changeover, the umpire asked Nadal if he wanted more medical attention.
Murray felt Nadal was getting preferential treatment and, after dropping his serve, hit the ball towards the umpire’s chair in frustration, prompting Dumusois to say “you have zero respect for what I do”. Murray responded by telling the umpire he didn’t know what he was talking about.
Dumusois eventually gave Nadal a time violation in the final game, but Murray felt it should have been given earlier in the contest.
Asked about his clash with the umpire, Murray told the press conference: “You can draw your own conclusions. I don’t know how much bearing it all had on the outcome.
“When you are losing at the end, it is easy to get frustrated.”
| Match stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nadal | Murray | |
| 2 | Aces | 4 |
| 2 | Double faults | 2 |
| 74 | 1st serve % | 51 |
| 64 | 1st serve win % | 68 |
| 57 | 2nd serve win % | 44 |
| 62 | Service Points Won % | 56 |
| 44 | Return Points Won % | 38 |
| 4/10 | Break points won | 3/11 |
The Scot had begun in carefree fashion and played faultless tennis in a blistering opening set, with his opponent having no answer to his accurate serving and punishing ground strokes.
He won the majority of long rallies and regularly using the drop shot to drag the Spaniard around the court.
Nadal could not keep pace with Murray’s physical intensity and earned a rebuke from the umpire when his entourage appeared to offer some courtside coaching.
Murray broke to lead 4-2 and then again on Nadal’s next service game to take the set 6-2.
The Spaniard regrouped, however, and broke Murray in the opening game of the second set only for the Scot to break back immediately.
Both players were on their limit but it was Murray who was to crack first as his serve, which had been commanding in the first set, began to falter under increasing pressure.
Nadal drove him further and further to the back of the court with punishing backhands and broke decisively at 5-3 before levelling the match.
Murray’s resistance was now broken and he began to lose focus. He dropped his serve twice to trail 4-1 in the third, and although he fought to the end he couldn’t knock Nadal out of his stride and the Spaniard took the match on his fifth match point.
Nadal said: “It was a great match. Andy played great tennis in the first set and I made him play even better. I needed something else – more intensity in my shots and I did that.
“The second set was close and anything could have happened, but I had more intensity and my shots were harder and longer and that was probably the difference.”
Speaking about reaching his 100th ATP World Tour final, he added: “It is a great feeling. This is a very important week for me. This is one of the great tournaments in my career and being in the final makes me very happy.”
Nadal will start a short-priced favourite when he plays France’s number 13 seed Gael Monfils in Sunday’s final.
Monfils started underdog against compatriot and eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the other semi, but took advantage of his opponent’s sluggishness around the court to dominate throughout.
Tsonga was a shadow of the player who beat Roger Federer in Friday’s quarter-final and even when he managed to break Monfils to get back on serve at 4-3 in the second set, he immediately lost his own again, allowing his compatriot to close out the match in comfort.
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World doubles number one Jamie Murray and partner Bruno Soares reached the Monte Carlo Masters final with a 6-2 6-4 win over Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig.
The Australian Open champions, seeded fourth in Monte Carlo, sealed victory in 67 minutes.
The Briton and the Brazilian went 4-0 up in the opening set and held firm to remain top of the ATP doubles rankings.
A reflex Murray volley sealed the match and improved their season record to 17 wins and only three defeats.
In the final they will meet either Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who beat Murray’s brother Andy and Dominic Inglot on Friday, or Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
Brazilian Melo would have regained his individual number one doubles ranking with victory alongside Dodig of Croatia.
But the second seeds, playing in their first semi-final of the year, were unable to take any of their four break points and decisively lost serve in the ninth game of the second set.
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Former British number one Laura Robson has had her best win since wrist surgery two years ago.
The world number 465 beat Klara Koukalova, who is ranked 117, 6-2 6-3 in the first round of qualifying for the WTA clay court event in Stuttgart.
She returned from a 17-month lay-off in June but had a relapse and did not play until Indian Wells last month.
The 22-year-old will use her protected ranking of 58 to gain direct entry into the French Open main draw in May.
Eight-time Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champion Nadal is looking for his first title here since 2012
The semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday feature No. 2 Andy Murray against No. 5 Rafael Nadal and No. 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga against No. 13 Gael Monfils in an all-French match-up. This is the first time since 1988 two Frenchmen have reached the semi-finals in Monte-Carlo (Yannick Noah l. to Lendl, Thierry Tulasne l. to Martin Jaite). The last French finalist and winner here was Cedric Pioline in 2000 (d. Hrbaty).
In the first match on Court Rainier III, No. 4 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares meet No. 2 Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. Murray and Soares, who are No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings after winning titles in Sydney and the Australian Open in January, come in with a 16-3 match record on the season. Dodig and Melo are appearing in their first semi-final this year. Murray, who became No. 1 in the individual Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Apr. 4, is trying to stay on top. Melo is No. 2 and if he wins the match (w/Dodig), the Brazilian will regain No. 1 on Monday.
In the first singles match, Nadal and Murray meet for the 23rd time (Nadal leads 16-6) and the eighth time on clay (Nadal leads 6-1). This is their third meeting in this round in Monte-Carlo and the Spaniard won the previous two in 2009 and 2011. Nadal is appearing in the semi-finals for the 11th time in 12 years (except 2014) and he is 9-1 in SF matches. Last year he lost to Djokovic in SF. He has a tournament-best 56-4 career record with a tourney record eight straight titles from 2005 to 2012. The 29-year-old Spaniard is also trying to reach his 100th career ATP World Tour level final (67-32) and 42nd in an ATP Masters 1000 event (27-14). Murray is making his third semi-final appearance here (2009, 2011) and he’s trying to reach his third career clay court final (2-0). Last year he won back-to-back clay titles in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and ATP Masters 1000 Madrid (d. Nadal). He is 11-5 in Masters 1000 finals.
In the next match on, friends Monfils and Tsonga square off for the seventh time on the ATP World Tour, the first on clay. Tsonga has a 4-2 head-to-head advantage (all on hard courts) but Monfils won the last meeting in the 3R at ATP Masters 1000 Miami last year. Monfils is making his second straight semi-final showing in Monte-Carlo and he’s trying to advance to his third career ATP Masters 1000 final. He was runner-up in Paris-Bercy in 2009-10. Monfils has not dropped a set in four matches, holding serve 31 of 35 games, while leading the tournament in return games won (53%). Tsonga is appearing in the semi-finals here for the first time since 2013 and the 30-year-old Frenchman (turns 31 on Sunday) is trying to advance to his first career clay court final on the ATP World Tour.
The always-popular players enjoyed their first-ever hit on a cruise ship.
Kei Nishikori is fully focused on trying to claim his third consecutive title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, but is adopting a unique approach for taking in the city’s picturesque views.
The World No. 6 joined local favourite Nicolas Almagro on Friday to hit a few balls on a mini-tennis court set up on an MSC cruise ship. On Monday morning, Nishikori will play a mini-tennis match with Rafael Nadal at the top of Tibidabo mountain, known for its views overlooking Barcelona.
“I am happy to be back in Barcelona. I feel good and hope to win my third consecutive title here,” said Nishikori, shortly before his first training session at the Real Club Tenis Barcelona 1899. “I love Barcelona. The view of the city from the ocean is fantastic.
Nishikori is looking to become just the third player to three-peat at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Only Nadal and Mats Wilander have accomplished the feat so far.
The top spot in the individual Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings is on the line this week after second seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo, and fourth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, won their quarter-final matches on Friday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.
Dodig and Melo will now square off against Murray and Soares in a semi-final match on Saturday. Should the second seeds prevail, Melo will overtake Murray as No. 1 when the newest Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings are released on Monday.
Dodig and Melo continued through strong form with a dominant victory over Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, 6-4, 6-4. A lone break of serve in each set was all the 2014 finalists in Monte-Carlo needed as the pair saved all three break points against them in the match.
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“We are very, very happy with how we played again. We tried to play as aggressively as we could and tried to do our best,” said Melo. “We are really looking forward for the next match and hope everything goes well to play another final here in Monte-Carlo.”
Murray and Soares needed exactly one hour to dispatch No. 6 seeds Rohan Bopanna and Florian Mergea, 6-2, 6-3. They also saved all three break points against them in the match while landing an impressive 84 per cent of first serves in play.
“Playing Dodig and Melo is a very tough match. They’ve been playing extremely well for so many years. They play well on clay. But the toughest part is playing a good friend,” said Soares. “It’s never easy for me to play against Marcelo, but we both know that can happen. So we’re just going to go on court, try and forget about that and try to play our best tennis. The good thing is that it’s great for Brazil that we’re going to have someone in the finals.”
Third seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut extended their winning streak to 12 matches, saving a match point in their quarter-final to defeat Dominic Inglot and Andy Murray, 6-4, 3-6, [12-10]. The British duo erased a 4-8 deficit in the match tie-break and even held a match point at 10-9, but the French pair fought back to take the final three points of the match. Herbert and Mahut are looking to win their third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown in succession after victories in Indian Wells and Miami.
They will now play the unseeded pairing of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who won their quarter-final over Henri Kontinen and John Peers, 6-4, 6-4. The Colombian pair are looking to win their first-ever ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title.
“We felt very good out there today,” said Farah. “We were returning at a high level and always putting a lot of pressure on their serves. We are very happy to be back in the semis of a Masters 1000 event.”
In his first event back since knee surgery, Roger Federer says his body stood up well
Roger Federer thought he had his Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters quarter-final match on Friday won on two different occasions, but still sees the week as nothing but positive despite the loss.
Federer stormed through the first set against eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and came within two points of winning the match at 5-4 in the third set. But after undergoing left knee surgery in February to repair a torn meniscus, the Swiss star is simply happy to be playing at a high level again.
“I thought I was going to win the match maybe after the first set. I thought I was going to win the match maybe [at] the beginning of the third. But that doesn’t matter really,” he said. “It was a good match. It was nice to play an intense match. I’m happy [with] how the body reacted. So many good things this week. It’s all positive for me.
“Number one, it’s good to play a tournament after having had surgery. Number two, it was good to play one match. It was good to have a match with a rest, then to play again. Now it was good to play back-to-back, yesterday and today. Then it was good to play 2 hours 10 [minutes] today.”
The brief break from the tour has also rejuvenated Federer and left him as motivated as he’s ever been to put in long hours on the court. Even just after his loss, he was already thinking about his practice schedule.
“The pre-tournament stuff I was able to do, I trained really hard. My fitness coach was here. We practised well on the tennis court, as well. It’s been a really good past couple of weeks now for me, so I’m very happy,” said Federer.
“I hope my knee and my body are going to be okay the next couple of days. If I’m good, I might go practise tomorrow as well just to get the body into a rhythm of playing four days straight at a very intense level. If I feel like I need a break, the team tells me to rest, I’ll do that tomorrow.”
Perhaps the most encouraging sign for Federer is that this is only his first tournament of the clay-court season. Although he’s unsure of his tournament schedule leading into Roland Garros, the World No. 3 expects to be in peak form by the time he arrives in Paris.
“I’m returning a lot better. It’s better than other beginnings of the clay-court season,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because of the new racquet. I’ll have to keep that and my serve will come as I play more matches.”