In three of the four quarterfinals at the Montreal Masters, the top-eight seeds have held to form. The result is a showdown between Rafael Nadal and Fabio Fognini, while Dominic Thiem runs into a red-hot Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (7) Fabio Fognini
Nadal and Fognini will be squaring off for the 16th time in their careers when they clash in the Rogers Cup quarterfinals on Friday night. The head-to-head series stands at 11-4 in favor of Nadal, but Fognini dominated their most recent encounter 6-4, 6-2 this spring in Monte-Carlo to end a six-match losing streak against the Spaniard. Nadal had withdrawn from the Indian Wells semis due to a knee injury and missed Miami, so he was less than 100 percent at the time. That is no longer the case, as the world No. 2 triumphed again at Roland Garros, reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, and so far in Montreal has defeated Dan Evans and Guido Pella in straight sets.
Fognini punched his ticket to the last eight by making similar work of Tommy Paul and Adrian Mannarino. The Italian is up to No. 11 in the world and firmly in contention for a London spot, but his 23-15 record for the season is still unspectacular. A much different Nadal will be on display in this one, and he will be eager to avenge what transpired in Monte-Carlo.
Pick: Nadal in 2
[polldaddy poll=10382126]
(2) Dominic Thiem vs. (8) Daniil Medvedev
Just about the only thing that could be going better for Medvedev right now is if he had defeated Nick Kyrgios in the Washington, D.C. final last weekend instead of finishing runner-up. But no matter; the 10th-ranked Russian still produced a stellar result in the district and it is full steam ahead for him in Montreal. Medvedev has improved to an awesome 36-15 this year with straight-set victories at the expense of Kyle Edmund and Christian Garin.
Up next for the eighth seed on Friday is a third career meeting with Thiem, who leads the head-to-head series 2-0. However, their only previous hard-court collision went to a third-set tiebreaker (St. Petersburg in 2018) before Thiem prevailed in more routine fashion on his preferred clay-court surface (Barcelona this spring). The fourth-ranked Austrian is coming off a clay-court title in Kitzbuhel and he has done well to pick up his first-ever Rogers Cup wins over Denis Shapovalov and Marin Cilic. But Medvedev, who has dropped a mere nine games through two matches, is in far superior form compared to those two players.
Pick: Medvedev in 2
[polldaddy poll=10382125]
Strange match. Bit of conversation between Rafa and Foggy at the net afterwards, seemed amicable, but wondering what it was about.
However this tournament ends up for Rafa, he’s got a great draw at Cinci. So whether he wins Montreal (which he should) or not, he will be able to get more match play under his belt at Cinci before the Open, as the only guy who really has a shot at keeping Rafa from making the semis in Cinci would be Coric, and I only say that because I believe Coric has beaten him before at Cinci. However you slice, Rafa will get a lot of matches under his belt leading into the US Open, which is good for him.
If Rafa wins at Montreal, I doubt he’ll play at Cincy.
If he’s able to reach the final and beats Medvedev or Khachanov there, then he’s already playing well and should have enough match play by then. I doubt he wants to tire himself and risk injury just before the USO.
Coric isn’t playing well at the moment and when he beat Rafa at Cincy in 2016, that’s after Rafa played at the Rio Olympics and just after Rafa coming back from his wrist injury. Rafa is not suffering from any injury at the moment so I doubt Coric could trouble Rafa (Coric is no Foggy!).
No way Rafa is playing Cincy. He has got 4 matches under his belt. Fed will have to beat Djoker in Cincy even if Rafa does not win a match before Open.
If Rafa pulls out at Cincy, will the draw not be rearranged so that Roger and Djoker are on the opposite sides of the draw?
no, draw is decided. Rafa will be replaced by a lucky loser.
I meant Fed will have to beat Djoker to reclaim no. 2 ranking before USO which is what matters at the moment
I think Foggy may pull out of Cincy too. He doesn’t look ok physically.
Did Rafa play better set 2 and 3.
Neither monfils or agut will be easy n Medvedev Karen will be really dangerous as both hit so hard.
I just don’t want Rafa anywhere near kachanov. He gets injured after he plays him ( iw2019 and USO 2018)
Why should not Monfilis or Agut be easy as they would be playing their second match on the same very day which is a big disadvantage . If they are not easy, Rafa is not going too far in USO.
Not easy as Rafa is himself not playing well enough
Since it’s still raining in Montreal, will Rafa even play his semis today? Isn’t it more likely that his semis and then later the final will be played tomorrow?
Last I heard (from ESPN 7PM EST) Nadal-Monfils will play at 8 pm tonght as scheduled. Heroic effort from Monfils to win his quarter and he gets this for reward?!? Tennis is brutal.
Too brutal, sadly. Monfils has pulled out, giving Rafa a walkover into the final. Happy for Rafa, but sad for Monfils. The final will be Rafa v Medvedev. Best of luck, Rafa!!!!
I really don’t like this at all! I feel sorry for Monfils, although Rafa would’ve probably beaten him anyway. But this deprives Rafa of a match, too. Hopefully he will be able to bring it in against Medvedev.
The reason Nadal and Fognini have good matches is because Nadal thinks his the alpha male on tour and Fognini doesnt have any of it.
Fognini is southern European also, he’s not going to let Nadal dominate him. Most of Fognini’s success is simply due to that psychological aspect, he doesnt let Nadal push him around.
Medvedev looks unbeatable at the moment. Might be worth a few grand to win the final.
Monfils withdrew from SF:
https://twitter.com/TennisTV/status/1160336153003855875
Monfils has withdrawn with an ankle injury. Rafa gets a walkover into the final.
Smart move by Monfils withdrawing. He has to be careful with his ankle long term and his chances of beating Nadal are slim plus the fimaly is now back on schedule for completion on Sunday (local time). It’s a win for everyone involved.
‘final’
I agree with you that Monfils did the smart thing. I don’t know how serious his ankle injury really is, but he is injury prone, and his chances of beating Rafa would’ve been slim to none even if the circumstances would’ve been regular. But I regret the scheduling nonetheless. It deprives Rafa of a match, it deprives Monfils of a shot at the final, and it deprives the ticket holders of an attractive semi final pairing. Wouldn’t it have been possible to have the semis today at noon and the final in the evening? This would’ve given the finalist many hours of recuperation.
No, unless the SFs are played concurrently (ie on different courts at the same time), if not, it’ll be unfair to the finalist from the second SF(ie he’ll have shorter rest time before the final in the evening.