MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - APRIL 21:  Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory after his men's Semi-Final match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during day seven of ATP Masters Series: Monte Carlo Rolex Masters at Monte-Carlo Sporting Club on April 21, 2018 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.  (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal triumphed in Monte Carlo to reach the final of the Masters event. Julian Finney / Getty Images

Rafael Nadal too good for Grigor Dimitrov in Monte Carlo



World No 1 Rafael Nadal swept aside Grigor Dimitrov to ease into his 12th Monte Carlo Masters final with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on Saturday.

The 31-year-old, who needs to win an 11th Monaco title to retain the number No 1 ranking from ahead of Roger Federer, will face either Kei Nishikori or Alexander Zverev in Sunday's final.

Nadal came through a tight first set but always looked too strong for Dimitrov and raced through the second in less than half an hour.

The top seed is bidding for a record-extending 31st Masters title this week, and this win saw him extend his run of consecutive sets won on clay to 34.

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Nadal is playing in his first ATP tournament since pulling out of his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic in January with a hip injury, but has shown no signs of rust in the principality.

Following a 6-0, 6-2 last-eight thrashing of Dominic Thiem, Nadal has now lost only 16 games in four matches this week.

He saw a 3-0 first-set lead slip away as Dimitrov laid down the first real challenge to the Spaniard this week, only for a sloppy service game from the Bulgarian to gift the 10-time champion the opening set.

That effectively ended Dimitrov's chances, and Nadal broke to love in the second game of the second set.

Eight straight points on his opponent's serve saw Nadal storm towards the finishing line, and a wide Dimitrov backhand wrapped up yet another comfortable victory.

Results

Stage three:

1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43

2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s

3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s

4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s

5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s

6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s

General Classification:

1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02

2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s

3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s

4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s

5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s

6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s

World Cup 2023 ticket sales

August 25 – Non-India warm-up matches and all non-India event matches
August 30 – India matches at Guwahati and Trivandrum
August 31 – India matches at Chennai, Delhi and Pune
September 1 – India matches at Dharamsala, Lucknow and Mumbai
September 2 – India matches at Bengaluru and Kolkata
September 3 – India matches at Ahmedabad
September 15 – Semi-finals and Final

Masters of the Air

Directors: Cary Joji Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, Tim Van Patten

Starring: Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Barry Keoghan, Sawyer Spielberg

Rating: 2/5

Company Profile

Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000


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