Kei Nishikori came through his fourth three-setter in five matches this week on Saturday to become the first player from Japan to reach the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which first began in 1897. Nishikori knocked out third-seeded German and Monte-Carlo resident Alexander Zverev in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory that lasted two hours and 13 minutes. Nishikori had previously lost to Zverev in the Citi Open semi-finals at Washington, D.C. in July 2017, but he advances in his pursuit to become the first player from Japan to win an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. "I always enjoy playing this tournament," said Nishikori, who is competing here for the first time since his 2012 debut. "It's a...
Grigor Dimitrov has a lot going for him. He is the reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion and sits inside the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. The Bulgarian also made the semi-finals this week at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. But that doesn’t make an 11th FedEx ATP Head2Head loss against World No. 1 Rafael Nadal (1-11) any easier. “I value sometimes more the lessons. I hate losing,” Dimitrov said. “You see me with a smile. I'm a positive person. Deep down, I'm hurt. I hate losing. Simple as that. But it's life… hopefully in the future I will be able to turn that around. There's still going to come a day that I feel I can do that or beat...
Rafael Nadal withstood early pressure on Saturday to book a place in his 12th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final (10-1). The Spanish superstar, who struggled for backhand consistency at times, knocked out fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-1 in their 12th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting over one hour and 32 minutes at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It is the sixth time that Nadal has advanced to the tournament’s championship match without dropping a set. “I think I played solid,” said Nadal. “It had been a very hard first set until the 4-all. A lot of tough games. Yes, I made a big mistake at 3-1, I played a very bad game. Then he came back… I really had a lot of...
Third seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic reached the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of their careers on Saturday night when they defeated Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(4), 4-6 10-7 in one hour and 35 minutes at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.. Marach and Pavic have a 4-3 record in tour-level finals, including a 3-1 record this year, which started with a 17-match unbeaten run and three straight trophies at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open (d. J. Murray/Soares), the ASB Classic (d. Mirnyi/Oswald) and at the Australian Open, their first Grand Slam championship (d. Cabal/Farah). The duo also finished as runners up in the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament final (l. to Herbert/Mahut). Marach and Pavic took a 5-3...
