Clay court king Nadal marches on at Monte Carlo Masters
Rafael Nadal aiming for a fourth consecutive title
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Thursday, 24, Apr 2008 08:58
Defending champion Rafael Nadal moved through to the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters after beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4 6-1 today.
Nadal has won this tournament for the last three years, but the match against fellow Spaniard Ferrero promised to be tough encounter. But although the first set could have gone either way, Nadal powered through the second to setup a clash against David Ferrer in the next round.
The players traded a break each to get to 4-4 in the first set, but Ferrero failed to hold his serve at 5-4 down and lost the set as a result.
Nadal breezed through the second set to lead 4-0 and though Ferrero broke back once, his serving let him down again as he conceded the set 6-1 and lost the match.
After his titanic three set battle against underdog Rueben Ramirez Hidalgo in the previous round, world number one Roger Federer reached the quarter-finals with a much more comfortable win over Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Monfils broke early to take a 2-1 lead, but the youngster couldn't consolidate and lost his serve immediately. Federer broke for a second time in the first set to take it 6-3.
Federer broke early in the second set to lead 3-1, and he kept his serve to win the set and the match 6-4.
The Swiss master will face his nemesis David Nalbandian in the quarter-finals after the Argentinean thumped Tommy Robredo 6-1 6-0.