Nadal, bidding for a record-extending 14th French Open title, won the first five games of the match as he looked on course to repeat his drubbing of the Serb in last year's final.
Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj crashed out in their respective men's singles semi-final matches at ATP Challenger Series tournaments being simultaneously played in England and the United States.
Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev stunned home favourite Kei Nishikori in Tokyo on Sunday, winning the final of the Japan Open 6-2, 6-4 in just over one hour.
Leander Paes and Stanislas Wawrinka shocked 2014 Wimbledon champions Vasek Pospisil and Jack Sock 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-3 to make it to the doubles quarter-finals at the ATP Masters Western and Southern Open, in Cincinnati, on Tuesday.
Leander Paes and Matthew Ebden continued their winning streak, beating Jonathan Erlich and Andrei Vasilevski 6-4, 3-6, 10-7 to enter the doubles final at the $1,62,000 Bengaluru Open ATP Tennis Challenger, in Bengaluru, on Friday.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect tournament record and advanced to his fifth China Open final with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against Andy Murray on Saturday.
Defending champion Andy Murray and ATP finals hopefuls Mikhail Youzhny and Fernando Verdasco all made surprise early exits from the Valencia Open on Wednesday. World number four and top seed Murray fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to Argentine Juan Monaco in the second round, while world number 10 Youzhny pulled out at the start of the day with a back problem.
Novak Djokovic will begin his Australian Open title defence against Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while reigning women's champion Sofia Kenin meets wild card Maddison Inglis, following the draw for the year's first Grand Slam on Friday.
'This has been an emotional week and I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support.'
The American was forced to default his semi-final match against Kenneth Carlsen because of an ankle injury
Veteran Leander Paes brushed off the disappointment of Rio Olympics as he and his German partner Andre Begemann made it to the final of the ATP Winston-Salem Open beating Swede Robert Lindstedt and Pakistan's Aisam-ul Haq Qureshi in a close encounter.
As a sporting spectacle Alcaraz and Djokovic matches have delivered on every level and would be worthy of the Big Apple spotlight.
World No 1 Carlos Alcaraz fended off in-form American Tommy Paul to reach the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals on Thursday
Spain's Marcel Granollers-Pujol upset top seed James Blake to claim the US Men's Clay Court Championship and his first ATP title.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic ended Kei Nishikori's impressive debut at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 semi-final victory at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
While Djokovic has a firm grip on top spot, there will be a new number two on March 15 in Russian Daniil Medvedev, who will climb one place to his career-best ranking to replace Nadal, who has not played since the Australian Open due to a back injury.
Former world number one Rafa Nadal wasted a match point as he slipped to a surprise semi-final loss to Austrian Dominic Thiem on his beloved clay at the Argentina Open on Saturday.
Sinner has made the most of a favourable draw at the grasscourt major this year
American teenage sensation Coco Gauff progressed to her maiden WTA final as she eased past Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 6-4 at the Linz Open on Saturday. The 15-year-old Gauff became the youngest player to reach a WTA final since Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova won the Tashkent Open in 2004, also aged 15.
While Federer and Nadal will look to reignite the flair and fight they showed to reach last year's final, 2018 could have a different script at play.
18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz earned his first ATP Masters 1000 crown
Andy Murray battled past Romanian qualifier Marius Copil 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-4 at the European Open in Antwerp on Friday to reach his first singles semi-final in two years.
Roger Ferdrer came up with a solid all-round display to beat world No 1 Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-3 in the final and win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday.
World number one Novak Djokovic overpowered Dennis Novak after Dusan Lajovic battled past Gerald Melzer and Serbia went on to a 3-0 win in their opener against Group F hosts Austria in the Davis Cup Finals in Innsbruck on Friday.
Matteo Berrettini won the Stuttgart Open for a second time after he beat Andy Murray 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 on Sunday to deny the Scot what would have been his first title on grass in six years.
Somdev Devvarman registered the biggest win of his fledgling career when the wiry Indian upstaged sixth seeded Marin Cilic in straight sets in the second round of the USD 1.4 million Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington.
Tim Henman is determined to bury the disappointments of 2005 and begin the new tennis season on a confident note.
Djokovic says Peng situation horrifying, says tennis must unite.
India's Leander Paes and Canada's Daniel Nestor have lost to Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini of Italy 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 in their semi-final of the ATP China Open tournament in Beijing.
Murray was coached by Lendl from 2011-14 before he rejoined his team in June last year, helping Murray capture his second Wimbledon title and his second Olympic gold in Rio.
Rafael Nadal is the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.
Novak Djokovic is returning to the US for the first time in two years after being denied entry due to being unvaccinated for COVID-19.
The ATP issued the latest men's tennis rankings on Monday and the top 10 list remains unchanged with Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic still leading the rankings.
The world number one retained his Thailand Open title with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over British teenager Andy Murray.
IMAGES from Day 5 of the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris on Thursday.
Battle-scarred Argentine Juan Martin del Potro clinched his 21st career title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson in the Mexican Open final in Acapulco on Sunday.
The Serbian had to save two set points in the first set before finding his groove to reach his 10th title clash in Rome and remain on course to win his 36th ATP Masters 1000 crown and overtake Rafael Nadal on the all-time list.
Divij Sharan and Purav Raja shocked top seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah to breeze into the summit clash of the ATP Claro Open, in Bogota, Colombia.
Another Indian pair of N Sriram Balaji and Vishnu Vardhan will also be seen in the semi-finals after their opponents, Gianluca Mager and Emil Ruusuvuori withdrew from the last-eight match due to an injury to the former.
Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea finished second in Ashe/Smith Group after losing to the Italian pair of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolleli in their last group match in the ATP World Tour Finals , at the O2 Arena, in London, on Thursday.
