ROGER FEDERER LOSES IN MONTE CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TO TSONGA, ANDY MURRAY, RAFAEL NADAL SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 15th April 2016

ROGER FEDERER LOSES IN MONTE CARLO ROLEX MASTERS TO TSONGA, ANDY MURRAY, RAFAEL NADAL SET UP SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN BY RICKY DIMON

epa05260295 Roger Federer of Switzerland during his quarter final match against Jo Wilfried Tsonga of France at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 15 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal will go head-to-head at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Saturday after they cruised through their respective quarterfinal encounters in straight sets on Friday. Murray hammered Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and six minutes before Nadal got the best of Stan Wawrinka 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 17 minutes.

“Stan today, I think the last three games of the first set, that’s the only moment that he didn’t play well,” Nadal assessed. “Obviously he played with too many mistakes. But in the beginning of the match and in the second set was a good match, in my opinion. Both played good points.

“I think he played with more mistakes than me. But is true at same time he is going more for the shots all the time. When you want to play this way, very aggressive, you can have mistakes. I think I played good. I defended well. I moved well. When I had the opportunity, I was trying to have the control of the point with my forehand and with my backhand, too. I am very happy the way that I played.”

Murray and Nadal will now be facing each other for 23rd time in their careers, with the Spaniard holding a 16-6 edge in the series. He has won six of their seven previous clay-court encounters, including two in Monte-Carlo. Nadal prevailed 6-2, 7-6(4) in the semis of this tournament in 2009 and again in the semis via a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 decision in 2011. Murray managed to win their most recent clay-court battle 6-3, 6-2 in the 2015 Madrid final.

The Spaniard has won only two clay-court titles since the 2014 French Open–none at the Masters 1000 level. But Nadal has to be considered the favorite to snag another one now that Novak Djokovic is out of the tournament–and because Nadal has played well, himself. Prior to taking out Wawrinka, he also beat Aljaz Bedene and Dominic Thiem in straight sets.

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his win against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland at the end of their quarter final match for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 15 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Andy Murray of Great Britain returns the ball to Milos Raonic of Canada during their quarter final match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 15 April 2016. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Murray preceded his blowout of Raonic by beating Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benoit Paire in three sets. The second-ranked Scot, who is bouncing back from early losses in Indian Wells and Miami, trailed Paire by a set and a double-break in the second before storming back.

“Obviously I had a couple tough weeks in Indian Wells and Miami, and I haven’t played loads of tennis since Australia,” Murray reflected. “The first couple matches here were tough matches; didn’t play particularly well. I’m just happy I managed to fight through them and now I feel a little bit more relaxed about where my game’s at.”

Roger Federer could not quite join Nadal and Murray in the Monte-Carlo semifinals. The 34-year-old Swiss got off to a hot start against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but ended up going down 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. Tsonga broke serve at 5-5 in the third and then held from 0-30 down by taking the last four points of the match.