Grief-stricken Djokovic wins in Monte Carlo

Updated April 20, 2012 07:20:11

World number one Novak Djokovic raised his eyes and arms to the sky after beating Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals just hours after learning of the death of his grandfather.

The Serbian, who was told about his loss while practising in the morning, struggled to control his emotions when he walked on court for the match and then broke down in tears after completing a gutsy 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Dolgopolov.

Rafael Nadal ominously moved a step closer to winning a record eighth consecutive title at the principality by demolishing Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1.

Nadal will face Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, who defeated Spanish eighth seed Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-3.

In a humid and grey afternoon next to the Mediterranean, Djokovic was warmly welcomed by a packed crowd as the news of his loss spread in the Monte Carlo Country Club alleys.

He was crying as he left the court to thunderous applause two hours later.

As the unpredictable Dolgopolov started to misfire in the second set, Djokovic regrouped and took advantage of the flurry of unforced errors flying off his opponent's racket.

Djokovic, who earlier this month had described his grandfather as "my hero and a fighter... who is always sending me lots of positive energy", screamed out loud after he broke Dolgopolov's serve early in the second set.

Even a rain delay in the third set could not unsettle Djokovic and he started weeping the moment he booked his place in the last eight.

Djokovic, who could become the first man in over 40 years to hold all four majors simultaneously if he triumphs at the French Open, will next face Dutchman Robin Haase.

The morning sunshine proved to be a false dawn at the club, which was soon drenched in rain. World number four Andy Murray, however, dodged the showers after France's Julien Benneteau retired hurt.

Murray was leading their fiercely contested opening set 6-5 when Benneteau quit, having fallen in the previous game when sliding to a wide ball. Benneteau received lengthy treatment before deciding that he could not continue.

The Scot will take on Czech Tomas Berdych, the sixth seed, who defeated Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

As the weather turned grey and cooled down, France's fourth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga shrugged off two rain delays to beat Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.

He will meet compatriot and ninth seed Gilles Simon, who moved past Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, monaco

First posted April 20, 2012 07:04:11

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Nadal beats Djokovic to win Monte Carlo

Updated April 23, 2012 06:47:23

Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters for an unprecedented eighth straight year on Monday (AEST), defeating world number one Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 in the final.

The victory also marked the end of a seven-match losing streak in finals to the Serb world number one, whose last victory over Nadal came in a six-hour Australian Open final.

Nadal's victory was his 42nd in a row at the Mediterranean venue and marks his 47th career trophy and 20th in a Masters 1000 tournament, the first to achieve that honour.

The win was also his first ATP trophy since winning Roland Garros last June.

"I've always felt unbelievable here," said an emotional Nadal. "It's unbelievable to win this historic tournament eight times. I always feel great when I come here.

"I had lost to Novak seven times, so losing eight would not have been much different. But to win this one makes a big difference.

"Hopefully I will stay healthy and go to Barcelona (next week) and play a good tournament."

Djokovic won the first game of the match to love but slowly found himself losing grip at the cliffside club on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Djokovic, who also played and lost the 2009 final against Nadal, and was competing this week after learning of the death of his grandfather in Serbia. He had rallied from a set down in two of his four previous rounds.

The Serb world number one was playing in his 45th ATP final and now stands 30-15. He trails Nadal 14-17 in their career series. Monte Carlo is one of only two Masters 1000 tournament that Djokovic has not won (Cincinnati is the other).

"I'm sorry for my performance today, Rafa played well and deserved to win today," said Djokovic, who went down in 78 minutes. "I'm still very happy to reach the finals for the second time.

"This is one of my favourite events at the most beautiful centre court in the world."

Djokovic stands 24-3 on the season with titles at the Australian Open and Miami.

Nadal claimed victory as he fired his only ace of the final on match point after saving the lone break point he had faced two games earlier.

The Spanish winner now owns a 44-1 record in the principality, with titles in eight of his nine appearances.

AFP

Tags: sport, tennis, monaco

First posted April 23, 2012 06:47:23

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Djokovic, Nadal to meet in Monte Carlo final

Updated April 22, 2012 07:53:29

World number one Novak Djokovic will try to deal Rafael Nadal another blow when the world's two top players clash in the Monte Carlo Masters final, where the Spaniard is chasing an eighth consecutive crown.

Nadal recorded his 41st win in a row in the season's first big clay court event as he defeated Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-finals, while the Serbian battled back from a set down to beat sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Djokovic has won their last seven encounters, which were all finals in major or Masters events, including at the Madrid and Rome clay court tournaments last year.

"My feeling is I have much less to lose than him," Nadal said.

"I have everything to win. That's the only positive thing about losing seven times.

Djokovic refused to regard himself as the favourite, as Nadal is unbeaten since 2005 in the principality and has reached this year's final without dropping a set.

"It's an ultimate challenge," said Djokovic, who lost the 2009 final to the Spaniard.

"I need to play well from the first to the last point. I cannot have ups and downs. I cannot afford that against Rafa. I'm aware of that. But why not believe that I can win?"

Djokovic has been overcome by emotion at times since the death of his grandfather on Thursday and the top seed had to work hard to move past Berdych after two hours and 42 minutes.

He wowed the packed crowd when he hit a backhand winner to wrap up the victory and advance to his 45th ATP World Tour final.

On a sunny afternoon by the Mediterranean, where the players were distracted by gusty winds, Djokovic wasted an early break chance in the first set with uncharacteristic unforced errors.

Berdych relied on his powerful forehand, as he did in his quarter-final win over world number four Andy Murray, to clinch the opening set.

Djokovic raised his arms to the sky after holding on to his serve to take the hard-fought opening game of the second set.

He repeatedly screamed out loud and clenched his fists several times as he mounted his fight-back, breaking early in the second set.

"That was the turning point probably," Djokovic said.

"After that I kind of tried to encourage myself and be positive on the court. There was a change of momentum I think when I made a break."

A more aggressive Djokovic broke early in the third set and pushed Berdych into committing numerous mistakes, though the Czech mostly blamed the tough conditions.

"My game is to be much more aggressive, play a bit riskier than him... so when the wind starts to blow, then it takes the ball and I start to make mistakes," Berdych said.

Nadal stuck to his typical aggressive style to upset Simon, the ninth seed, who lacked the cutting edge on the crucial points.

Though Simon had more break chances than Nadal, he did not manage to convert any, while Nadal grabbed his first opportunity in each set to reach his 68th ATP World Tour final.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, monaco

First posted April 22, 2012 07:53:29

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Nadal, Djokovic advance in Monte Carlo

Updated April 19, 2012 06:19:59

Rafael Nadal gave his troublesome knees a quick outing, as the Spaniard launched his bid for a record eighth successive Monte Carlo Masters title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

The 10-times major winner was joined in the third round of the season's first big clay court tournament by world number one Novak Djokovic, who thrashed Italian Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-4.

Australia's number one Bernard Tomic exited in the second round, going down 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to Ukrainian 16th seed Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Aside from Nadal, it was not all smooth sailing for the Spaniards as last year's finalist David Ferrer, the fifth seed, suffered a shock 6-3, 6-2 loss to Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci.

Nadal resumed full training last week after a right knee injury forced him to pull out of his semi-final clash with Andy Murray in Miami.

Though he struggled to produce his dazzling clay court game during a cloudy afternoon, he showed ill-effect of the injury as he recorded his 40th win at the chic Mediterranean venue, where he has been unbeaten since 2005.

"I believe that I played a really normal match, nothing special. Nothing very bad, but nothing very good," Nadal said.

With tennis great Bjorn Borg watching on, Nadal easily frustrated Nieminen with his range of brutal forehand shots.

The second seed, who is hoping to win a seventh Roland Garros trophy and thus break the record he shares with Borg when the French Open begins next month, will next play Kazakhstan qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin.

Serbia's Djokovic, who is chasing Nadal's French Open crown after winning the last three majors, had a flying start to go 4-0 up but was less impressive afterwards and needed 88 minutes to edge out Seppi.

Djokovic easily grabbed the first set but was made to work a little harder in the second as Seppi, who had lost their six previous matches, played more aggressively.

"For the first official match (on clay) since Roland Garros last year, it's satisfying," Djokovic said.

"We had a couple of long games but I served very well when I needed to."

In other results, Czech Tomas Berdych moved past Croatia's Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-3), 6-1, while eighth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro defeated Italian Potito Starace by the same score.

Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, the seventh seed, advanced after beating Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 and will next face Frenchman Gilles Simon, who hammered Federico Gil 6-3, 6-0.

France's Julien Benneteau recovered from a break down in each set to upset 15th seed Juergen Melzer 6-4, 6-3 to set up a third-round match with Andy Murray.

Reuters

Tags: tennis, sport, france

First posted April 19, 2012 06:19:59

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Nadal triumphs in Monte Carlo

Published:Monday, April 18, 2011 9:58 AESTExpires:Sunday, July 17, 2011 9:58 AEST

World number one tennis player Rafael Nadal has defeated Spanish compatriot David Ferrer to win the Masters event in Monaco.

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Nadal wins yet again in Monte Carlo

Published: 18/04/2011 06:18:51

Rafael Nadal bites the trophy as he celebrates defeating David Ferrer of Spain in the Monte Carlo Masters final on April 17, 2011 in Monaco.

Rafael Nadal bites the trophy as he celebrates defeating David Ferrer of Spain in the Monte Carlo Masters final on April 17, 2011 in Monaco.

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Monte Carlo now seventh heaven for Nadal

Posted April 18, 2011 05:55:00

Rafael Nadal pronounced himself 'a lucky guy' after sweeping to a seventh straight title at the Monte Carlo Masters as he dispatched fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday.

"It would have been impossible to imagine a few years ago winning seven titles here," Nadal said after a victory in 2 hours 16 minutes, his 12th of 16 against his good friend.

"I'm a lucky guy to have done this by age 24.

"Thanks so much to the life, I'm really enjoying everything."

Nadal faced a few minor challenges on court in postcard-perfect conditions with a sleek, discreet mega-yacht tethered just offshore at the Mediterranean playground.

But it is the clay of the Country club that is officially declared the backyard of Nadal, the only man in tennis history to win any event six times - let alone seven.

"This was a very important win for me," said the somewhat disbelieving champion, who has once again embarked on the road to Roland Garros next month in the best possible way.

"I don't think about defending points from previous years, only about playing well. I just keep trying to improve every day, train humbly and improve. Winning this week was so important."

Nadal was 24 hours removed from his three-hour struggle with an injured Andy Murray, who played their three-set epic on a right elbow injected with pain-killing cortisone.

Murray and his team drove the 600 kilometres to Barcelona on Sunday where he will have a medical visit and decide over the next few days if he can play in the ATP event as second seed behind Nadal.

Nadal has ruled at Monte Carlo since losing his only match in the principality in his 2003 debut year as a 16-year-old. He has now won 37 straight Monte Carlo matches with a 39-1 record at the tournament.

Sunday's win marked the 44th career trophy for Spain's top player, who now owns a record 19 titles at the Masters 1000 level and has beaten compatriots in the nine of the all-Spanish finals he has played.

Nadal won a 30th clay court trophy, tying him for third place in the post-1968 Open era with Bjorn Borg and Spain's Manuel Orantes.

The victory was revenge for Ferrer's straight-sets win over Nadal in an Australian Open quarter-final three months ago.

Nadal and Ferrer duelled as familiar opponents in a 74-minute opening set, with a run of three straight breaks putting Nadal in 3-2 command.

The world number one used his edge to take the opener and break for 2-1 early in the second.

But a few errors crept in as Nadal double-faulted and fired an errant backhand to hand the break back for 4-4. That amounted to little as the king of clay broke again for 6-5 and closed it out on his second match point a game later from a Ferrer volley gone wrong.

Nadal struck 22 winners on the afternoon with 30 unforced errors, breaking on four of 11 chances.

- AFP

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