Straight after World No. 1 Rafael Nadal closed out his semi-final victory over reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov Saturday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and shook hands, he took his cell phone out of his bag momentarily. Why? “I was texting Carlos to tell him that we need to book a court quick,” Nadal said of sending a message to his coach, former World No. 1 Carlos Moya. “That's all.” It was back to practice on a distant court for the 10-time Monte-Carlo champion, despite not losing more than four games in a set during his impressive 34-set winning streak on clay. [ALSO LIKE] “I did it a lot of times in my career,” Nadal said of practising right...
Watch highlights as Kei Nishikori advances to his fourth ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, where he will face World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, a 10-time champion at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com.
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...
