Nadal goes down in Monte-Carlo, Federer recovers from brink of defeat

For the first time since his first appearance in 2003, Rafael Nadal has lost prior to the title match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Nadal went down to Ferrer 7-6(1), 6-4 in a semifinal upset on Friday afternoon as the underdog Spaniard ended a 17-match losing streak on clay to his heavily-favored countryman.

Ferrer played with a lead almost the whole way, but he gave back breaks three times–twice in the first set and again while attempting to serve out the match at 5-2 in the second. The world No. 6, who won seven straight points in the opening tiebreaker after falling behind 1-0, sealed the deal on his second opportunity at 5-4.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer also lost the first sets of their matches, but they recovered for victories. The second-ranked Serb stopped Casablanca champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and the 32-year-old Swiss was two points from defeat on three different occasions before beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-1.

One of many great points in the Djokovic vs. Garcia-Lopez match:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0DtNRC9tRI]

Federer interview:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaCgRQphJ6M]

Carlos Moya on Garcia-Lopez:
[tweet https://twitter.com/Charlymoya/statuses/457225123024891904]

Stanislas Wawrinka after his win over Milos Raonic:
[tweet https://twitter.com/stanwawrinka/statuses/457194585186660353]