Rafael Nadal enters final of Monte Carlo Masters

The Spanish superstar, who struggled for backhand consistency at times, knocked out fourth-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-1 in their 12th meeting over one hour and 32 minutes at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. It is the sixth time that Nadal has advanced to the tournament’s championship match without dropping a set.

Nadal will now look to clinch his 11th crown at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament on Sunday. If he does improve upon his 67-4 record at the event, which was first staged in 1896, then Nadal will start his 171st week at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings on Monday. A loss in the final would signal Roger Federer’s return to the top spot. Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who lost to Dominic Thiem on Thursday, have both won a record 30 Masters 1000 trophies.

While Nadal worked his way to a 3-0 lead, Dimitrov was never out of contention as the Monte-Carlo resident hugged the baseline to take the ball early. Consistently deep ball striking from Dimitrov was rewarded with errors from the racquet of Nadal, who was broken to 15 at 3-1. 

The Spaniard then mis-timed two backhands — one on a break point chance — in the next game to allow Dimitrov back to 3-3.

Nadal missed out on a break chance while leading 4-3, which would have allowed him to serve out the set, but he played a waiting game and converted his second set point opportunity with a powerful forehand that cleaned the line to end an entertaining 65-minute set. From 4-4 in the opener, Nadal grabbed all of the momentum, winning seven straight games.

The Spaniard broke Dimitrov’s serve to love on two occasions in an error-strewn second set, courtesy of forehand errors from the Bulgarian. Nadal closed out his 11th victory over Dimitrov when the reigning  ATP Finals champion made a backhand error.

The 31-year-old Nadal has a 10-1 mark on the season. Dimitrov, who was appearing in his fifth Masters 1000 semi-final (2-3), captured his first crown at this level in August 2017 at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. 

He is now 14-7 in 2018, including a runner-up finish at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam.