Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan extended their rich vein of form on Sunday when they captured their sixth Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters doubles title. Their 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in 79 minutes keeps up the pressure on the early leaders of the ATP Doubles Race To London, for one of the eight spots at the Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in November. Bob Bryan admitted their form in the principality of Monaco may be down to a lucky charm he received this week. During the on-court trophy ceremony Bob admitted, “Thank you to Prince Albert in the stands there, he gave me a lucky coin on the first day of the tournament and he told...
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...
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...
Alexander Zverev made it a 21st birthday to remember on Friday night by reaching the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semi-finals for the first time. The third-seeded German overcame the courtcraft and inventiveness of Richard Gasquet, in addition to a respectful and predominantly French crowd, to complete a hard-fought and thrilling 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory. It was his fourth straight win over 2005 semi-finalist Gasquet, who, one day prior, had become the first man from his country to record 500 match wins. "The third set was very intense, a lot of tight moments. I feel like in the tightest moments we both played the best tennis," Zverev said. "I'm just happy with my performance tennis-wise, also mentally-wise." With cheers of “Allez, Richard”...
