Injury-hit Nadal eyes 8th Monte Carlo title

Rafael Nadal begins his bid for an unprecedented eighth straight Monte Carlo Masters title plagued by new fears over his physical condition. The Spaniard takes to the European clay for the first time this year having spent the past fortnight trying to heal his latest knee problems after failing to front up for his Miami hardcourt semi-final against Andy Murray. Nadal will be seeded second in the field at the picturesque Monte Carlo Country Club, with number one Novak Djokovic keen to make his return to the Mediterranean venue after skipping last year to rest. The Serb number one starts after a bye against a qualifier or Italian Andreas Seppi. Six-time French Open champion Nadal truly owns this tournament, which starts on Sunday, having lost a mere six sets in total since starting his unbroken title run in 2005. Over the past five years, he has dropped just two sets at the elite club. The Spaniard will start in the seocnd round after a bye against the winner from Finn Jarkko Nieminen and Czech Radek Stepanek Spanish media reported that Nadal has undergone more therapy at a Spanish clinic, treatment comprising injections of plasma enriched with growth factors to accelerate recovery, healing and tissue regeneration. Nadal also underwent the same treatment in 2009. “It is painful and I have to stand it for a week but it works. I know I have to in order to recover faster,” he said, adding that his knee tendons were “better than before” when compared to his 2009 condition. In the absence of Roger Federer, Britain’s Andy Murray will be seeded third as he tries to lift his spirits after going down to Djokovic in the Miami Masters final. Murray is defending one of his career-best performances on clay after reaching the semi-finals in two of the last three Monte Carlo editions. He lost to Nadal a year ago in the final four and starts his 2012 campaign against either Serbia’s Viktor Troicki or local player Jean-Rene Lisnard. Now coached by Ivan Lendl, the 24-year-old remains in fourth place in the ATP rankings and is still without a Grand Slam title. “I have to believe that I can win the French Open,” proclaimed the Scot. “Last year (he reached the semis) gave me a lot of confidence. “I wouldn’t say I’m the favourite going into the French because Djokovic, Roger and Rafa have got much better results than me on clay. But I think I can win against them. I need to work hard over the next five or six weeks, for sure.” Missing from the field will be the third-ranked Federer, who will make his clay start next month at the Madrid Masters. The Swiss, with three ATP titles this season, plus trophies from his last three events of 2011, is taking a training break and has called in American sparring partner Jesse Levine for a hit. The Monte Carlo field has been hit by withdrawals. France’s Richard Gasquet, who injured his ankle playing football, and compatriot Gael Monfils, with an abdominal muscle injury, are out. American John Isner withdrew after helping the US to a Davis Cup quarter-final win over France at Monte Carlo last weekend. Isner elected to return to the US to play in the Houston claycourt event and will remain in the country to train before returning to Europe. Seeds: Novak Djokovic (SRB x1), Rafael Nadal (ESP x2), Andy Murray (GBR x3), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x4), David Ferrer (ESP x5), Tomas Berdych (CZE x6), Janko Tipsarevic (SRB x7), Nicolas Almagro (ESP x8), Gilles Simon (FRA x9), Feliciano Lopez (ESP x10), Juan Monaco (ARG x11), Kei Nishikori (JPN x12), Fernando Verdasco (ESP x13), Florian Mayer (GER x14), Jurgen Melzer (AUT x15), Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR x16)

Isner, Lopez advance to US clay-court semis

New York: World number 10 John Isner beat defending champion Ryan Sweeting 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4) on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the $442,500 ATP US Men’s Clay Court Championship. Isner, the second seed, fired 11 aces and saved all six break points that he faced in the all-American quarter-final to improve to 19-6 for the season and keep alive his hopes for a first clay-court title. Isner, a runner-up last month at Indian Wells, will next face Spanish third seed Feliciano Lopez, who led 6-4, 2-2 when Carlos Berlocq of Argentina retired injured. Lopez is chasing his third ATP title and his first on clay. The other semi-final will see Argentine fourth seed Juan Monaco, who edged South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, take on US qualifier Michael Russell, who outlasted Ryan Harrison 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 in another all-American quarter-final. Monaco, ranked 16th, won his fourth career ATP title, and first since 2007, in February at Vina del Mar and reached the semi-finals last month at Miami, losing to eventual winner, world number one Novak Djokovic.