Rafael Nadal left no doubt that he would be the overwhelming favourite at next month's French Open after crushing fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-2, 6-3 in the Monte Carlo Masters semi-finals on Saturday.
Fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas stormed into the semi-finals of the men's doubles in the Monte Carlo Masters Series, beating fifth seeds Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Julian Knowles of Austria 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday to become the first man to win the claycourt tournament five times in succession.
Zverev and Rublev among dark horses for French Open
World number one Rafael Nadal laboured into the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters while Roger Federer had a smooth start to his campaign on Wednesday.
Twice finalist Ruud overcomes Davidovich Fokina test
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic raised his eyes and arms to the sky after beating Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Thursday just hours after learning of the death of his grandfather.
World No. 4 Andy Murray trashed Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3 to book his place in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday.
Claycourt machine Rafael Nadal recovered from a stuttering start to beat Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1 and reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
The Indo-Australian pair beat Argentine duo David Nalbandian and Sebastian Prieto 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles entered the final of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie.
World number one Roger Federer came from a set down to outclass Argentine sixth seed David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and book his place in the Monte Carlo Masters last four on Friday. The Swiss top seed, who hit a string of outstanding winners in a first-rate match, next meets either Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia or unheralded American Sam Querrey.
Andrey Rublev made the most of Holger Rune's nerves to win a see-saw Monte Carlo final 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 on Sunday, as the Russian's talent was finally rewarded with a Masters title.
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer continued on a collision course towards the Monte Carlo Masters final after easily winning their third round matches in contrasting conditions on Thursday.
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi's run at the Monte Carlo Masters ended on Saturday, when they were beaten in the semi-finals. The sixth seeded India-Pakistan duo lost to unseeded South Americans Juan Ignacio Chela and Bruno Soares 6-2, 6-7(4), 10-7 in a marathon match that lasted 86 minutes.
Rafael Nadal's eight-year reign at the Monte Carlo Masters was ended when he was beaten 6-2, 7-6 by Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday.
Eight-time champion Rafael Nadal will lock horns with World No 1 Novak Djokovic for third time in the Monte Carlo Masters final after both sailed through their semi-finals with relative ease on Saturday.
Leander Paes and his Austrian partner Jurgen Melzer outplayed Indian duo of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna to enter the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event of the Monte Carlo Masters.
Novak Djokovic says he is still dealing with an elbow issue heading into this week's Srpska Open as the Serb looks to get his French Open preparations back on track.
Mahesh Bhupathi had to retire due to a leg injury, forcing the him and his partner Max Mirnyi to settle for the runners-up trophy in the men's doubles at the Monte Carlo Masters. The fifth seeds were trailing 3-6, 0-2 against top seeds and defending champions Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia.
Bhupathi pairing Fernando Gonzalez defeated Dominik Hrbaty and Marat Safin 6-3, 6-3 to enter the second round.
You'll be spoilt for choices with these varieties.
Fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov survived a scare against Pierre-Hugues Herbert before holding his nerve to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Tuesday, while Dominic Thiem edged out Russian youngster Andrey Rublev.
Czech Tomas Berdych overpowered world number four Andy Murray in their Monte Carlo Masters quarter-final on Friday to reach the last four for the second time in the season's first big claycourt event.
World number one Rafael Nadal and fourth seed Andy Murray bagged two wins apiece on Friday to set up a mouth-watering Monte Carlo Masters semi-final. Nadal, gunning for his fifth consecutive title in the principality, swept past Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3 6-3 in his quarter-final while Murray battled past Russian eighth seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6 6-4.
Roger Federer's honeymoon at the Monte Carlo Masters ended abruptly when he went down 6-4, 7-5 to fellow-Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round on Thursday. World number three Novak Djokovic made sure he did not suffer the same fate as Federer when he overcame a second set hiccup to tame Spain's Albert Montanes 6-1, 6-7, 6-0.
The pair beat Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro in the final.
World No 2 Rafael Nadal thrashed top seed Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 in the Monte Carlo Masters final to win the clay court title for an eighth consecutive time.
The pair beat the Czech Republic duo of Frantisek Cermak/Leos Friedl in the semi-finals.
Andy Murray overcame a sluggish start to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Romania's Victor Hanescu on a bad Tuesday for French players. The fourth-seeded Briton was 2-1 down in the opening set after dropping serve in the third game but he woke up to take four games in a row. He clinched victory when Hanescu netted a forehand on the fourth match point.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will make a late decision on his participation in the next week's Monte Carlos Masters because of an ankle problem.
Federer was two points from an embarrassing exit from the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday before rallying to beat Spanish qualifier Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 to reach the third round. The world number one, who failed to retain his Australian Open crown earlier this year, was 5-4 and 30-15 down in the third set before his opponent, ranked 137th by the ATP, crumbled under the pressure.
Andy Murray beat Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-1 at the Monte Carlo Masters to line up a third-round match with Novak Djokovic.
Spaniards Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer will lock horns again in the Monte Carlo Masters final after the claycourt conquistadors sealed contrasting victories in their semi-finals on Saturday.
A completely out-of-sorts Roger Federer lost 6-4, 6-4 to Austria's Juergen Melzer in blustery conditions at the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Friday.
Roger Federer boasted he could finish a point at will as he reminded the tennis world of his destructive power with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Monte Carlo Masters second round on Tuesday.
Finland's Jarkko Nieminen will have the dubious honour of facing king of clay Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters after shrugging off France's Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in Monday's first round.
World number one Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal reached milestones as they eased into he Monte Carlo Masters Series semi-finals on Friday.
The eighth seed failed to recover from a back problem that forced him to retire during the doubles on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances