Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his match against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer during the Monte-Carlo ATP Masters in Monaco yesterday. Nadal won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
DPA/Monte Carlo
Top seed Novak Djokovic moved closer to another tennis record as he ran up a 6-0, 6-3 quarter-final rout of Marin Cilic at the Monte Carlo Masters for an even dozen wins against the US Open champion.
Djokovic will clash today for a record 43rd time with Rafael Nadal, who struggled against long-time rival David Ferrer before finally escaping with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win in almost three hours.
Nadal led a set and 3-0 but lost the set as Ferrer stormed back to level on his second set point. Nadal regained control in the third at the event which he has won eight times.
Nadal leads Djokovic 23-19 in their epic series, with the world number five Spaniard winning their last meeting in the 2014 Roland Garros semi-finals.
“I’m very happy to be in a semi-final,” said Nadal. “I was pleased with my level in this match. David played very well, it was a high standard form both of us.
“The match with Novak will be tough, he is so far ahead of the rest of the players right now.”
Djokovic is within two weekend victories of becoming the first player to win the opening three Masters 1000 tournaments of the season after completing the Indian Wells-Miami title sweep for the third time less than a fortnight ago.
Djokovic is also looking to join Nadal (Madrid, Rome, Montreal, Cincinnati - 2013) in winning four Masters titles in succession. Even without more records to hand, Djokovic has still won 17 of the last 38 Masters events played, a respectable 45 per cent success rate.
Djokovic’s win in 65 minutes over the Croatian was brutally efficient - the world number one reeled off the opening eight games before Cilic got a look in.
But with five breaks of serve and 15 winners, there was little doubt as to the outcome on the clay of the principality.
“All in all, it was probably the best match I’ve played so far in the tournament. That’s what I want, what I wish for in this moment,” said the winner.
“Obviously the amount of matches that I won this year has helped boost my confidence level, helped me to feel good at this tournament and continue on with good performances.
“The first set went completely my way. I knew he was going to start to change some things in his game so he can start to play a little bit better.”
In the bottom of the draw, sixth seed Tomas Berdych will take a 5-1 record into his semi-final showdown with Frenchman Gael Monfils as he advanced when Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic quit with a foot injury to hand over a 5-2 win.
Monfils, the French fan favourite, showed off his shot-making skills to perfection a day after stunning Roger Federer, earning a 56-minute defeat of Bulgarian ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-3.
Monfils had never gone this far on the Monte Carlo clay, with the third round his previous best performance.
The world number 18 broke an off-the-boil Dimitrov four times in what was a lacklustre performance from the Bulgarian who has yet to fulfil his potential after being touted for several seasons as ready for a breakthrough.
Dimitrov was fresh from an upset of defending champion Stan Wawrinka, a comprehensive win where he lost just three games against the Swiss.
