Defending champion Rafa Nadal on Friday thrashed Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-0, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters for a record 14th time.
Thiem, who had beaten Nadal twice on clay previously, was considered as the Spaniard’s toughest opponent heading into the tournament, but he crumbled in the Monaco sunshine.
The world No. 1 won nine straight games before Thiem even got on the scoreboard, drawing sympathetic cheers from the crowd.
Photo: Reuters
The 31-year-old brought up match point with a blistering forehand winner and wrapped up the contest when Thiem fired a backhand into the net, his 25th unforced error.
It was a ruthless display from the 10-time champion, who is next to face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the final. Nadal has to win the tournament to stop his rival Roger Federer from regaining the top ranking.
“I think I played a great match — the best of the tournament,” Nadal said. “I played very aggressive — I knew I couldn’t give Dominic time to hit the ball and I didn’t.”
Dimitrov made the most of a second-set collapse by David Goffin to reach the Monte Carlo semi-finals for the first time with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory.
After conceding the opening set, Goffin raced to a 5-1 lead in the second, but wasted three opportunities on his own serve to force a decider.
Dimitrov, who has struggled on clay in the past and has never progressed past the third round of the French Open, broke twice and sealed the victory in the tiebreak to record one of his best performances on the surface.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori needed four match points to put away second-seeded Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-3 and reach his first Masters semi-finals since July 2016.
The 28-year-old served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Cilic, the Australian Open runner-up, roared back to save three match points and went on to claim the tiebreaker in style.
Nishikori regained his composure to secure a crucial break in the eighth game of the decider as he clinched a semi-final berth in just under three hours.
He is next to meet Germany’s Alexander Zverev, who came back from a set down to beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but