TENNIS NEWS FROM MONTE CARLO: NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS HIS OPENER & ROGER FEDERER & RAFAEL NADAL BOTH PLAY TOMORROW BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: on 14th April 2015
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament
TENNIS NEWS FROM MONTE CARLO: NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS HIS OPENER & ROGER FEDERER & RAFAEL NADAL BOTH PLAY TOMORROW BY RICKY DIMON

epa04704227 Novak Djokovic (L) of Serbia returns the ball to Albert Ramos Vinolas of Spain during their second round match for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 14 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER  |

Seeded players compiled a perfect 8-0 record at the Monte-Carlo Masters on Tuesday. Among those advancing was world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who booked his spot in the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

 

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Albert Ramos Vinolas of Spain during their second round match for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 14 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Coming off a 6-1, 6-1 blowout of Robin Haase, a confident Ramos-Vinolas was no match for Djokovic in set one. The second proved to be more competitive, but a single service break was enough for the top seed because he did not face a break point on his own serve after getting broken once in the opening frame of play.

 

“I felt very good,” Djokovic assured. “I thought, considering the amount of months that I haven’t played on the clay courts, to play against somebody that is a clay-court specialist and win in two sets, I thought it was a very good performance. I can just take positives from today.

 

“I’m playing at home in a way, because I spend a lot of time in Monte-Carlo; I practice in this club over the course of 12 months. I know people who are doing the courts; friends with them. It really is a different and very special feeling. So I’m trying to enjoy it and see how far I can go.”

 

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts during his semifinal match against Milos Raonic of Canada at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 21 March 2015. EPA/DANIEL MURPHY

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will be trying to join Djokovic in the last 32 when they take the court for their opening matches on Wednesday.

 

Federer is set to face familiar foe Jeremy Chardy, who disposed of Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 6-2 on Tuesday. Interestingly, one of the 17-time Grand Slam champion’s second-round matches during last year’s clay-court swing also came against Chardy, who stunned Federer 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) in Rome. They also squared off at the Brisbane International and the Paris Masters, with Federer prevailing both times (6-3, 6-7(3), 6-3 in Brisbane and 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-4 in Paris).

 

Thus the Swiss leads the head-to-head series 2-1, as they had never met prior to 2014. They still have never played a straight-set match against one another.

 

Nadal has no history with his opponent, Lucas Pouille. That is no surprise because Pouille is only 21 years old and just now starting to make a real name for himself on the ATP Tour. What did come as a surprise was Pouille’s first-round result, as the French wild card beat an in-form Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4. Four of Pouille’s seven career ATP-level match victories have now come in 2015.

 

As for Nadal, he is looking to bounce back from a disappointing Indian Wells-Miami swing (quarterfinal loss to Milos Raonic in Indian Wells, third-round loss to Fernando Verdasco in Miami).

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: , , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.