Rafael Nadal is the only top-eight seed remaining in Monte-Carlo, but he may have his hands full with familiar foe Fabio Fognini during semifinal action on Saturday. Daniil Medvedev and Dusan Lajovic are also aiming for a place in the title match.
(13) Fabio Fognini vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Fognini will be facing each other for the 15th time in their careers when they square off in the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters on Saturday afternoon. The head-to-head series stands at 11-3 in favor of Nadal, who has has won six in a row dating back to the fall of 2015. Surprisingly, two of Fognini’s three victories have come on clay; 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the 2015 Rio de Janeiro semifinals and 6-4, 7(6) a few months later in Barcelona. They last met at the 2018 Rome Masters, where Nadal got the job done 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Buoyed by vociferous Italian support in the principality, Fognini has made a dramatic run to the semifinals. The world No. 18 engineered incredible comebacks against Andrey Rublev (first round) and Borna Coric (quarterfinals) while also beating Alexander Zverev 7-6(6), 6-1 (third round) to go along with a walkover from Gilles Simon. Fognini dealt with a right-elbow issue on on Friday, so it remains to be seen if he turns up 100 percent for this one. He will have to, of course, as Nadal is an 11-time champion in Monte-Carlo and once again looking dominant despite his recent knee issues. The second-ranked Spaniard was not at his very best in the quarterfinals, but he still defeated Guido Pella 7-6(1), 6-3 to follow up more impressive wins at the expense of Roberto Bautista Agut and Grigor Dimitrov. Fognini has the talent to trouble Nadal, but even at full strength–which he may not be–this is a difficult proposition for the underdog.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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(10) Daniil Medvedev vs. Dusan Lajovic
The door seemed to be open for a Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic showdown in the Monte-Carlo final, but a red-hot Medvedev slammed that shut on Friday. Medvedev, who has been one of the best players in the world this season (fifth place in the live race to London), upset Djokovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. The 14th-ranked Russian, who preceded the biggest win of his career by ousting Joao Sousa, Radu Albot, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, is now 21-6 for his 2019 campaign.
Up next for Medvedev on Saturday is a second career meeting with Lajovic, who lost their only previous encounter 6-2, 6-1 on the indoor hard courts of Moscow this past fall. But Medvedev does not have home-court advantage this time around, he had never been adept on clay prior to this week, and he cramped just a bit in the third set against Djokovic. Moreover, Lajovic is playing some of the best tennis of his life. The 48th-ranked Serb upset Kei Nishikori to reach the Miami third round and so far in Monte-Carlo he has taken out Malek Jaziri, David Goffin, Dominic Thiem, and Lorenzo Sonego. Medvedev has to make a quick turnaround both physically and mentally, so this is another huge opportunity for Lajovic.
Pick: Lajovic in 3
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dusaan in 2!
huge pick
Medvedev in 3
Nadal in 3
Nadal in 2. He knows Fognini is injured.
Keep your mind focused, remain confident, be strong and show off your fighting spirit, Rafa!
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Nope, something is very wrong with Rafa! When i saw Rafa in the first round i said i must go to RG to watch him this year! Am i going to waste my money?
He didn’t (sorry)
Vamos Rafa!
Lajovic wins in 2! Unbelievable. Grats to Ricky for the pick. Hope your other pick also works out!
Vamos Rafa!!!
Nostradimonus
You must be to know Medvedev would lose the first set leading 5:1
Rafa in 2; Laj in 3.
Heart: ‘nini and Dev in three
Head: Nadal and Laj in three
Fognini going beyond beast-mode rn
Horrible match from Rafa; though Foggy is excellent. Rafa is serving and hitting poorly, looking like it’s 2014 or even 2015all over again. Rafa is just so defensive and hitting so short; he’s having brain freeze when he keeps hitting to Foggy’s BH today!
Maybe it’s the end of the Djoko and Rafa dominance at the top this year. Looks like we are having a brand new MC champion this year.
You’ve hit the nail on the spot lucky. The only saving grace is he at least delayed the humiliation of a complete meltdown by getting two games on the board! Well deserved win for the Fognini
I can barely watch the Rafa-Fog match I can’t bear to see Rafa going down like this: was so hoping he would have one last chance to shine at Monte Carlo and RG. Have to admit he’s a long, long way off his best this week (:-
ed,
I agree with you. This is just sad. To see Rafa losing like this. I wonder now about what Uncle Toni said. Does he know something we don’t?
Maybe you can’t win them all, but losing this way to Fog is just awful. It’s not like he is losing to someone like Novak or someone in the top ten.
Far too many mistakes from Rafa. Oh well, you can’t win them all.
I really can’t stand the way Rafa plays, I mean why hit right back at Foggy? It’s not a matter of FH or BH but why Foggy is! Why not hit to the open court instead of hitting right back at Foggy?
Looks like Foggy is bageling Rafa here! Embarrassing loss for Rafa, the defending champion.
Yes, he’s been playing defensively all week and keeps getting caught out with an unexpected winner.
Fabio Fognini wins Monte Carlo Masters. Wow!
Not necessarily, Jim! Foggy is notoriously streaky. He could EASILY get blown off the court by Lajovic. Crazy- if someone had said last week that a Serb would have a great shot at winning MC, literally not one single person in the world would have thought it would be Lajovic.
There are no guarantees with FF. Didn’t see the match but absolutely shocked by the score. Even if Rafa wasn’t playing well, Fabio must have played very well to get a win over Rafa on MC clay.
And this is a fabulous opportunity for FF but I don’t at all consider him a favorite after beating Rafa. I want Fognini to get the win but Fabio is not consistent. He is talented and very good on clay.I love watching him when he is ON. But his mind is as likely to be unfocused after beating Rafa as it is to be sharp and focused on the task of beating Lajovic.
Sadly, as a fan of Fognini tennis, it’s true and my heart dearly wants him to get this win. But I don’t at all count out Dusan Lajovic – Lajovic wants it just as much and I’d lean toward the Serb in 3.
Hoping Fabio can keep his head and play his best.
Brackets are out and I pick Rafa to get #12 in Barcelona. Am I wrong? Isn’t Rafa going for #12 in Barca?
Maybe, Kev, but if Fabio plays anything like this he will win easily over Lajovic. If Fabio wasn’t so prone to brain freezes he would be a multiple slam winner. It would be great to see him take a masters title.
Well at least he wins a game and not getting a bagel! His serve is so bad that he’s just delaying the inevitable.
Flavia doesn’t look too happy. She was a Rafa fan before she became Fog’s wife.
The key is to make Foggy run; why hit it to him and makes him feels comfortable?
He’s certainly never been intimidated by Nadal on a claycourt and for that reason alone deserves a big prize.
Foggy👍, Rafa👎
Disappointing loss for Rafa. It’s one of those things. Far too many mistakes.