RAFA NADAL GETS PAST DOM THIEM, ANDY MURRAY AND STAN WAWRINKA ALSO INTO MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TENNIS QUARTERFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 14th April 2016

RAFA NADAL GETS PAST DOM THIEM, ANDY MURRAY AND STAN WAWRINKA ALSO INTO MONTE-CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TENNIS QUARTERFINALS BY RICKY DIMON

epa05258457 Andy Murray of Great Britain returns the ball to Benoit Paire of France during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 13 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Rafael Nadal avenged one of his losses from earlier in the season by beating Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-3 in the third round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Thursday. Nadal, who had succumbed to Thiem in three sets in Buenos Aires after failing to convert a match point, got the best of the 22-year-old Austrian this time around after two hours and three minutes.

For Thiem, the story was similar one to his fourth-round affair with Novak Djokovic in Miami. The underdog capitalized on just one of 15 break-point chances in that contest, which resulted in a straight-set win for Djokovic. In this one, Thiem went 2-for-17 on break points, including 1-for-16 in the first set.

Rafael Nadal of Sapin returns the ball to Dominic Thiem of Austria during their third round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 14 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

The world No. 14 had a game point in 10 different games during the opener, but he managed to win only five of them and lost the set in one hour and 20 minutes. Even after going up by an early break in the second, Thiem was never quite the same. Nadal seized breaks of his own at 1-2 and 4-3 before serving out the match at love.

“I think the level was pretty high from both of us,” Thiem assessed. “Of course, I had a lot of chances; probably I should [have taken] more. But he was fighting [unbelievably] all the set. At the end, it was of course a big disappointment, the first set.”

Next up for the eight-time Monte-Carlo champion is Stan Wawrinka, who hammered Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-2.

A much more entertaining contest than Wawrinka-Simon saw Andy Murray overcome Benoit Paire 2-6, 7-5, 7-5. Paire led by a set and by a double-break in the second before collapsing. The Frenchman surged to a 3-0 advantage in the second but got broken for 3-1 and again for 4-4.

Paire briefly recovered in the third to break Murray and give himself a chance to serve for victory at 5-4. Nonetheless, the second-ranked Scot stayed alive after coming within two points of defeat at deuce. He had a much easier time breaking for the win at 6-5 and Paire ended his effort in appropriate fashion with a double-fault.

“I was a bit stressed when it was at the point of trying to close out the match,” the world No. 22 admitted. “I have many regrets…. His shots were not hurting me. I was hitting well. I had the right tactics. But later it became more complicated. I don’t know if it’s him or me. What I remember from that match is I was supposed to win that match. I was better than him for a long time.”

“It was a big win is what it was,” Murray said. “To win from 6-2, 3-0 down, two breaks when you’re not playing particularly well, it’s a great effort. It would have been easy to lose today and get down on myself. But I kept fighting right the way through to the end.

“It was a good one to get through because I could have easily lost today. Fought well; good effort.”