(left) Switzerland’s Roger Federer serves to Czech Republic’s Lukas Rosol during their MonteCarlo ATP Masters Series Tournament in Monaco yesterday. (AFP)
(right) Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Italy’s Andreas Seppi during their Monte-Carlo ATP Masters Series Tournament in Monaco yesterday. (AFP)
Reuters/Monaco
Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer demonstrated their superior class on clay as they eased into the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters yesterday.
Claycourt wizard Nadal barely broke a sweat in his 6-1 6-3 thrashing of Italy’s Andreas Seppi while fourth seed Federer recovered from a break in the first set to beat Czech Lukas Rosol 6-4 6-1.
Spaniard Nadal, whose eight-year reign as Monte Carlo champion was ended by Serb Novak Djokovic in the final last year, extended his proud record in the principality to 50-2 with the win on centre court.
The world number one will next meet compatriot and sixth seed David Ferrer in the final eight, who made easy work of Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov winning 6-4 6-2.
“That is going to be a very tough match,” the eight-times French Open champion told a news conference.
“David is a tough, tough player on any surface but here on clay, (he is) always a big challenge. I play a lot of matches against him, very tough ones.”
Federer, who has a record 17 grand slam titles, will face local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a mouth-watering quarter-final after the French ninth seed shook off a mediocre start to celebrate his 29th birthday with a 5-7 6-3 6-0 victory over Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Earlier, Swiss third seed Stanislas Wawrinka reached the quarter-finals without hitting a ball on Thursday after his third-round opponent Nicolas Almagro withdrew injured.
“I woke up this morning with a severe pain in my left foot that prevented me from even walking normally,” Almagro said. “After consulting with the doctor for a long time this morning, we decided together that it was better for me not to play today.”
Australian Open champion Wawrinka advances to meet eighth seed Milos Raonic after the Canadian beat 11th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-3. Later on Thursday, Djokovic continues the defence of his title against Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in his third-round match.
Nadal battles wardrobe malfunction in Monte CarloRafa
Nadal is battling a wardrobe malfunction that has forced him to alter his serving routine at this week’s Monte Carlo Masters.
When he has failed with his first serve, Nadal has had to ask for another ball rather than plucking one from his shorts, because he has been experiencing problems with his pockets.
“The ball comes out of the bottom of them and gets in the way,” the Spaniard told Teledeporte on Thursday after dispatching Italy’s Andreas Seppi to reach the quarter-finals.
“We’ll try to sort it out for the next tournaments but here it won’t be possible.
“When you have been doing something the same way for so many years, when there is a change you have to think about it and it makes things a bit more difficult.
“But it’s better to do it that way than have the ball popping out of the bottom of your shorts which is quite uncomfortable.”
Nadal won in Monte Carlo eight times in a row between 2005 and 2012 before losing to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final. The Spaniard is sponsored by US apparel maker Nike.
