Upsets have been a big part of the Monte-Carlo Masters, and an unseeded quarterfinalist–Guido Pella–is Rafael Nadal’s next opponent on Friday. Borna Coric and Fabio Fognini are also playing for a place in the semis.
Guido Pella vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Through two outings at the Monte-Carlo Masters, it may be fair to start wondering how many sets Nadal is going to lose during this entire clay-court. The number of matches he will lose probably isn’t in much doubt; certainly not more than one or two, no? Well-rested following a month off due to another knee issue, Nadal has been predictably dominant so far in his bid for a 12th Monte-Carlo title. The second-ranked Spaniard destroyed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-1 before taking care of Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals.
Up next for Nadal on Friday is a surprising showdown against Pella, who trails the head-to-head series 2-0. Bautista Agut clearly knows a thing or two about Nadal’s propensity to serve up breadsticks on clay; Pella does, too. Their most recent encounter came last spring at the French Open, when the eventual champion dominated 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 during second-round action. The two left-handers previously faced each other at the 2017 Indian Wells Masters, which resulted in a 6-3, 6-2 scoreline. Pella is playing the best tennis of his career this season (first-ever title in Sao Paulo plus Monte-Carlo wins over Laslo Djere, Marin Cilic, and Marco Cecchinato), but he won’t have much left in the tank with which to take more than a few games off the King of Clay.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 3-4 games
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(9) Borna Coric vs. (13) Fabio Fognini
Monte-Carlo can provide a home-court advantage for either Frenchmen or Italians. The French did not do much of anything this week, but Italians are positively lighting a fire under the fans. In addition to Lorenzo Sonego’s unexpected run to the quarterfinals as a qualifier, Fognini is also part of the last eight. The world No. 18 made an incredible comeback to beat Andrey Rublev 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 before ousting third-seeded Alexander Zverev 7-6(6), 6-1 on Thursday (he also got a walkover from Gilles Simon).
This marks the second career contest between Fognini and Coric, with the former prevailing 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in the 2014 Umag quarterfinals. Yes, Coric was an ATP quarterfinal in 2014–when he was all of 17 years old. Fast forward to 2019 and he now finds himself near the top of the game, at 13th in the rankings to be exact. The Croat has been unspectacular so far this season, but he has managed to battle past Hubert Hurkacz, Jaume Munar, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Monte-Carlo. Coric’s first two matches were extremely tough. An inspired Fognini has a slight edge in current form; and an inspired Fognini is never fun to play.
Pick: Fognini in 2
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who ya got?
Fabio in 3 – plenty of Italian fans might be able to pull him through. I love Fognini!
Rafa in 2 – losing few games (maybe 3 games). Vamos Rafa 😀
Coric in 3
Nadal in 2
Coric is more professional and consistent. That never works out well for Fognini.
Nadal never has mercy for other spanish speaking players.
Nadal losing 2 games.
Rafa already lost two games and was broken twice so far!
His serve is horrible and his shots ended in the service box so often! I won’t be surprised he will lose to Pella here, when Pella is playing like he has nothing to lose. Pella is serving well unlike Rafa, and he’s hitting with depth and with pace, unlike Rafa.
It’s really poor level by Rafa so far.
What is this??? Rafa doesn’t feel like playing today?
Terrible!!!
Surprising start from Rafa and Pella
Rafa means to break back right now.
break fest
Why is Rafa standing so far back and hitting short always? What gain will he get playing that way? He’s having brain cramp! Move inside the court and takes time away from Pella!
I don’t know what is going on with Rafa in this match. He is missing so many shots. I have no idea why Rafa is playing so poorly.
Rafa has evened it up in the first set. He seems to be playing better.
Some improvements there, he has woken up it seems. He’s leading now 5-4. If he’s playing like he did against Agut, I’ve no doubt Rafa will win, but he starts the match so poorly – serving so poorly, hardly making any first serve I wonder where has that AO serve gone. His shots are so short and mishitting so many of them, and he’s engaging in baseline rallies when he’s not winning them!
Rafa’s serve and ROS is poor in this match; his serve is poor this whole tournament.
And now Rafa is facing BP again in the 11th game, why does he revert back to baseline play again? He’s not winning the baseline rallies today, doesn’t he understand that? Pella’s baseline game is so solid; Rafa has to move to the net!
Rafa’s service games have been broken four times in one set, unbelievably BAD!
Rafa beat Pella so easily the 2 previous times they’d played before today that he probably underestimated him.
Nadal doesnt do that
You’re right, Ricky. In fact, Rafa gives his opponents too much respect.
Things not looking good for Rafa; even if he wins this match, he will be spending a lot of time on court today; he’ll have a hard time against his next opponent, esp if it’s Foggy.
But why would he struggle when he’s such a strong favourite to win this title??
Its not even a five setter ,is he injured ?
To me, he’s protecting his knee, hence he’s not able to push too hard when serving, thus he’s serving into the net often. Other than that, he’s playing quite well but as it’s a long break after IW, he needs match play to get his timing of his shots back to normal level. In addition, the windy conditions didn’t help, and he lost a bit of concentration during his match(es), having some mental lapses, perhaps that’s normal when one gets older and after a long break.
Still feel Rafa will win this match I’m watching. But he did not have the best start.
Rafa has so much more experience and confidence. Pella finally got a point. But that was it. Good comeback for Rafa!
I think Rafa was in shock over Medvedev beating Djoker at the start of the match.
lol, maybe! But Novak was not playing his best tennis anyways!
Nadal in two,Fognini in three
Crowd support.
I think Rafa needed to be pushed. It seems to bring out the vest in him. I don’t think this match will make him tired. He’s had it easy so far. I am not looking ahead to the semis. Rafa has to win this first.
It brings out the best in him! Thatxwas a crucial hold for Rafa.