Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka are set for a blockbuster quarterfinal on Friday in Monte-Carlo. Andy Murray and Milos Raonic are also aiming for a spot in the last four of this season’s first clay-court Masters.
(5) Rafael Nadal vs. (4) Stan Wawrinka
With Novak Djokovic shockingly out of the tournament after just one match, Rafael Nadal is arguably the favorite to capture his ninth title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The fifth-ranked Spaniard has not lifted the trophy since 2012, but his bid to restore order at what was once his most dominant event is off to a blistering start. Nadal cruised past Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3 in his opener and although he ran into plenty of trouble at times against an in-form Dominic Thiem on Thursday, the fifth seed managed to score a 7-5, 6-3 victory. That avenged a recent loss in Buenos Aires, where Nadal had a match point against Thiem in the semifinals before falling 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4).
Up next for the 14-time major champion is an 18th career showdown against Wawrinka, who is trailing the head-to-head series 14-3. Nadal has won four of their five previous clay-court meetings, including via a 7-5, 6-4 decision in their only Monte-Carlo encounter (also in the quarterfinals, in 2012). Wawrinka has advanced this week with straight-set defeats of Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gilles Simon. The fourth-ranked Swiss, however, will have to do much more than that in order to prove he has regained the form he lost in Indian Wells and Miami (fell to David Goffin in the fourth round of the former, bowed out to Andrey Kuznetsov in the second round of the latter). Although this is an ideal surface both both players, Wawrinka would rather go up against Nadal on a fast hard court or even grass.
Pick: Nadal in 3
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(10) Milos Raonic vs. (2) Andy Murray
Murray and Raonic will be squaring off for the eighth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 4-3 in favor of Murray, but it is all tied up at one win apiece on clay. Raonic prevailed 6-4, 7-6(3) four years ago in Barcelona before Murray got the job done 6-4, 7-5 last spring in Madrid. They most recently faced each other in the semifinals of this year’s Australian Open, where the Scot survived 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2.
Barring injury, both players are well on their way to the World Tour Finals. Raonic is No. 2 in the race with a 20-3 record, a title in Brisbane, and a runner-up finish in Indian Wells. Murray is not far behind at No. 3, but he has not done much since his performance Down Under. Despite playing their way into this showdown, both men have been alarmingly mediocre in Monte-Carlo. Raonic defeated Marco Cecchinato in straights before outlasting Pablo Cuevas and Damir Dzumhur in consecutive third-set tiebreakers. The adductor injury he sustained at the Aussie Open appeared to be a minor factor against Dzumhur. After beating Pierre-Hugues Herbert in three sets, Murray recovered from a set and a double-break deficit to overcome Benoit Paire 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 on Thursday. The second seed is more likely to scrape out a tough, ugly encounter–especially on a surface that slows down the Raonic serve.
Pick: Murray in 3
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Rafa cruises 61 64.
So many people with egg on their face.
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa match stats:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgFSWWgW4AA7euG.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgFSYtlW4AA9dJX.jpg
🙂 🙂
Rafa has always owned Stan; one of his losses to Stan was through injury and the other 2 were during his no confidence down time, but when he is firing Stan has no hope against him.
how some people picked Stan today is….tough to explain
Must admit I stopped breathing when he was serving for the match. Trying not to get ahead of myself but watching Rafa today was like the old times.
title is his to lose now
have a feeling that if he beats andy he not only wins the title but gets back to winning ways…feels like this would be the fillip he needs…
^^^Me too.
Rafa didn’t have to work half as hard as he had to against Theim. It was more or less a stroll with one blip of losing his serve. Hope he keeps it up.
Rooting for Roger against Jo hoping that Rafa will have a shot against Roger if he gets to the final.
So much better from Rafa today. Great to see.
More of this please.
If he can keep this up, there’s hope he can find his full form again (or close enough).
Rafa in two over Muzza.
hope you are going to show avatar solidarity for rafa’s match against andy hawks!!
avatar neutrality at least…
It stays until the end of the clay season at a minimum.
Vamos Rafa no matter what!
thanks hawks!!
today is a good day for rafa….!
hawkeye, you make me laugh…..hahahahahahaha!
Great to see my boy winning in straights! I was hoping for this kind of win! Can’t watch the matches cause I am on the trip but hope to get the link to the match and watch it later and ENJOY!
Vamos Champ!
Wining NOT winning ” ? Hard to type on the phone…
nats, you were right the first time. 🙂
Haha, Gosh, I see what I diid…My mind is tired! ?
It was CryBaby that did the wining.
Mirka’s right.
As for ‘CryBaby’ & Mirka, it reminded me that Mrs. Mirka couldn’t keep her mouth shut during the Fed-Waw match at the 2014 WTF and called Waw ‘crybaby’ after he complained about that.
Mrs. Mirka’s husband should have been fined for her action, according to the ATP Rulebook, pages 177 & 178.
Stan says all he cares about now is that Roger wins the tournament
Stan is sulking after he got whipped by Rafa.
Stan secretly loves Roger.
And it’s really not that much of a secret.
Stan’s dream is crushed.
Vamos Joey T!!!
A spy:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgFhkzWWcAAjr4b.jpg
🙂
I wa going to watch my recording of the match, but checked the result. I am very happy to see that Rafa got this win! Now I will finish watching it and see how Rafa did it.
here’s my prediction about Rafa v Stan:
ratcliff APRIL 14, 2016 AT 6:15 PM
“Agree, Nny. Rafa is not Simon (much as I love Gilles). And I don’t believe Stan will have enough (backhand) to beat Rafa here, never mind take a set. Rafa is confident and on a roll. Rafa in 2.”
3 picks right today! ?
For me, after Nole lost, it wasn’t going to be anyone but Rafa. He played bravely in IW, took his losses as positives because they were postives, and came through beautifully.
Now I really am worried about FO… but it’s great for tennis.
Rafa’s post-QF interview with the ATP Staff:
(Rafa says he played well)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fhIEkuEhi0
To Natashao.
2016 Monte-Carlo QF Rafa Nadal vs. Stan Wawrinka / FULL MATCH (Spanish commentary):
SET1
https://rutube.ru/video/45f537383c378a94b96de45e8e517a64/
SET2
https://rutube.ru/video/5e178ad2ee36f5de065102467b48e0cf/
Thank you! You are the best! ?
It was my pleasure. 🙂