Kei Nishikori pumped his right fist in celebration after winning a physically demanding encounter against Marin Cilic on Friday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Nishikori, renowned for his fighting abilities, had seen three match points evaporate in the second set, but as the match wore on he dug deep in the critical moments to complete a 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-3 quarter-final victory over the second-seeded Cilic. “Every match I think I'm improving,” said Nishikori. “Today was tough match. He was playing very good, especially in the second set. He was playing aggressively, [taking the ball] early and serving well. “It wasn't an easy match. Yeah, mentally it was a little bit tough in the second set. I lost three match points....
Former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has accepted a wild card into next week’s Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. It will be the Serbian’s first appearance at the event since 2006, when he fell in the first round. Djokovic competed in his first clay-court event at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters this week, losing a three-set thriller Thursday against Dominic Thiem. The ninth seed said after the match that he would like to play some more matches. [ALSO LIKE] “I'm feeling like it's been getting better every day. I've had three matches here. I didn't expect anything. I played without pain in the elbow, which is important. I have my coach Marian [Vajda] back in the box. So lot of good things,”...
Grigor Dimitrov reacts to his quarter-final win against friend David Goffin at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Friday. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal was rock solid on Friday when he broke apart the challenge of Dominic Thiem, one of the strongest performers on clay courts over the past two years, for a place in his 13th semi-final at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Nadal won the first nine games of an eagerly anticipated encounter against Novak Djokovic’s conqueror, Thiem, in a 6-0, 6-2 victory over 68 minutes to remain on course to capture an 11th crown at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, where he has a 66-4 record. “It has been a great result for me, but it isn’t a normal result,” said Nadal. “He's one of the best players of the world, especially on clay. “Here, I think I played great....
It’s never easy playing a friend, but on Friday, a couple of hours before they were due to step onto a court again as doubles partners, Grigor Dimitrov put aside any sentiment to save three set points in the second set and beat David Goffin for a place in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals. Under sun-kissed skies, on the hottest day of the week, fourth seed Dimitrov wrestled back the second-set momentum of sixth seed Goffin, recovering from a 1-5 deficit to win five straight games en route to completing a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory. Goffin, a semi-finalist at the Monte-Carlo Country Club last year, was unable to convert three set point chances at 5-4 in the second set during an...