RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON MONTE CARLO TENNIS UPDATE: FEDERER AND WAWRINKA LOSE, RAFA, NOVAK AND GRIGOR DIMITROV ALL ADVANCE

Written by: on 16th April 2015
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament
RICKY DIMON REPORTS ON MONTE CARLO TENNIS UPDATE: FEDERER AND WAWRINKA LOSE, RAFA, NOVAK AND GRIGOR DIMITROV ALL ADVANCE

epa04707366 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 16 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER  |

Federer unable to join Djokovic and Nadal in Monte-Carlo quarterfinals

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Last year’s Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters could not have gone any better for the Swiss. Both Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka reached the title match (won by Wawrinka in three sets). This year’s tournament, however, was a borderline disaster.

 

After winning their openers on Wednesday, Federer and Wawrinka were bounced out of Monte-Carlo during third-round action on Thursday. Following Wawrinka’s 6-1, 6-2 humiliation at the hands of Grigor Dimitrov, Federer ran into a red-hot Gael Monfils and lost 6-4, 7-6(5).

Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland returns the ball to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their third round match for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 16 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Gael Monfils of France during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 16 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“It was not the best end to the match,” the world No. 2 lamented. “I should have done better with the break up in the first. I think I did a good job to hang around the second set. I also had chances of my own. It remained close, but I never felt like things were really happening the way I wanted them to be going during the whole match.”

 

As usual, things went exactly how Novak Djokovic wanted from start to finish. The top seed extended his winning streak to 14 matches by making routine 6-4, 6-0 work of Andreas Haider-Maurer. Haider-Maurer was the only unseeded participant in the entire third round and Djokovic treated him accordingly, disposing of the Austrian in a mere 56 minutes.

 

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory against John Isner of US during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 16 April 2015. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Not unexpectedly, Rafael Nadal had a much tougher day at the office against a far more dangerous opponent. An in-form John Isner player another strong match against Nadal but fell to 0-5 in the head-to-head series following a 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 loss. The Spaniard struck seven aces without double-faulting as he prevailed in two hours and 20 minutes.

 

“My mentality in the third (set was) very positive,” Nadal explained. “The game, the level of tennis improved a little bit in the third than in the previous two sets. That’s very important for me. (I’m) very happy to be in quarterfinals; very important result for me.”

 

Nadal’s difficult draw continues on Friday in the form of a quarterfinal date with countryman David Ferrer. Djokovic will go up against Marin Cilic, while Dimitrov and Monfils will collide. The other quarterfinal pits Milos Raonic against Tomas Berdych.

 

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

 

Printable Draws

 

Men’s singles – click here

Men’s doubles – click here

Order of play – click here

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.