Rafael Nadal kicked off his bid for an 11th title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he improved to 64-4 lifetime at the tournament with a 6-1, 6-3 rout of Aljaz Bedene during second-round action on Wednesday afternoon. Nadal broke serve four times and saved both of the break points he faced while prevailing in one hour and 18 minutes.
The world No. 1 raced to a 3-0 lead right off the bat and never ran into any trouble on serve aside from his 3-1 service game, when he fought off two break points. In no other return game did Bedene even push Nadal to deuce.
Nadal-Bedene highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq20UsQgJC4
Next up for Nadal on Thursday is Karen Khachanov, against whom the Spaniard is 2-0 lifetime and 5-0 in total sets.
The marquee third-round showdown, however, is Novak Djokovic vs. Dominic Thiem. Djokovic set up that contest by holding off Borna Coric 7-6(2), 7-5 in the second round. It was as competitive as a straight-set affair can be, as Djokovic needed 10 match points over the last four games to lunge across the finish line. Coric did extremely well to hold at 3-5 and break back at 4-5, but he promptly donated serve in the following game and Djokovic delivered a routine hold at 6-5.
“I started the match very well, 4-1 up,” Djokovic reflected. “He started playing better. He started making less mistakes. I played a very good (first-set) tiebreak and started off very well again (in the second). God knows how many advantages (I had at 5-4). I’m really happy with the way I stayed focused. I haven’t played too many matches in the last 10 months and obviously I’m still lacking that match play. You can see that.
“[Thiem] is one of the best players in the world in general,” the Serb added. “Probably top three on this surface. He loves playing on clay. He got out of trouble, as well, yesterday from match point down…. Hopefully I can have another great match tomorrow.”
Djokovic-Coric highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wohnaq2Hw78
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Nadal and Djokovic in 2 to set up an epic QF!