Tennis - ATP World Tour — 2017 RSS

Watch nine-time Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters champion Rafael Nadal train at the Monte-Carlo Country Club on Friday.

Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal takes part in the 2017 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters draw ceremony on Friday at the Jardin Exotique in Monaco. Photo: Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters

A week ago, #NextGenATP American Ernesto Escobedo had never won an ATP World Tour match on clay. Safe to say he's now enjoying the surface. The 20 year old advanced to his first ATP World Tour semi-final on Friday, knocking out second seed and 2013 champion John Isner 7-6(6), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. US Men's Clay Court Championship in Houston. “I'm speechless right now. I can't believe it. It was a very long match, three tie-breaks. I just stuck with it. I just told myself it's going to happen, just keep on pushing, stay mentally tough,” Escobedo said. The right-hander notched an ace out wide on his seventh match point to finish off Isner, who delivered...

Rafael Nadal will have two championship themes on his mind when the clay swing heats up in Monte-Carlo, beginning on Sunday: the opportunity to win three tournaments for a record 10th time in his career, and the chance to catch Roger Federer and take over the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London. Nadal, who's climbed to No. 2 in the Race with final runs in Australia and Miami, can't catch Federer at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, the season's first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 clay court tournament. But another crown in the Principality – and the 1,000 Race points that come with it – would go a long way towards pushing the Spaniard ahead of the Swiss. The...

Rafael Nadal will go for his 10th title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, which begins Sunday. Photo: Getty Images/ATP World Tour