Ramos-Vinolas Talks Dream Run At Monte-Carlo 2017
Ramos-Vinolas Talks Dream Run At Monte-Carlo 2017
Apr212017
Novak Djokovic’s comeback from injury was cut short at the Monte Carlo Masters as Belgium’s David Goffin earned the biggest win of his career.
World number two Djokovic, playing his second match following an elbow injury, lost 6-2 3-6 7-5 in the quarter-final.
Goffin, who will meet Rafael Nadal or Diego Schwartzman in the semis, had not previously beaten a top-three player.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Andy Murray will play in Barcelona next week following his early exit in Monte Carlo.
Goffin, ranked 13th in the world, earned his first career win over Djokovic by taking his fifth match point in a dramatic 11-minute final game.
It ended the Serb’s hopes of a third title in Monte Carlo, which is an ATP World Tour 1000 event and considered a key part of preparations for the French Open in May.
The 12-time Grand Slam champion looked in trouble after losing the first set and then suffering a heavy fall early in the second.
But he showed no serious damage after falling into the courtside advertising hoardings, improving to break Goffin’s serve in game four as he went on to level.
Goffin, 26, lost his serve in the opening game of the decider, only to fight back and level at 4-4 by taking his seventh break point of the set.
The pair traded holds in the next three games before nerves appeared to affect Goffin as he squandered four match points in what proved to be the final game.
But he refocused to win at the fifth attempt when Djokovic, who had been given a time violation moments earlier, hit a forehand into the net.
It was Goffin’s first win in six meetings with Djokovic and his first victory in 15 matches against a player ranked in the top three.
Earlier, Spanish clay-court specialist Albert Ramos-Vinolas followed up his victory over Murray with a 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 victory against Croatian fifth seed Marin Cilic.
He will play France’s Lucas Pouille, who beat Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 6-0 3-6 7-5, in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Andy Murray, 29, has accepted a last-minute wildcard at the Barcelona Open as he looks to continue his own recovery from an elbow injury.
The world number one, who fell to a shock third-round defeat by Ramos, is looking to build up clay-court time before Roland Garros.
The Scot will join Nadal and six other members of the world’s top 20 in the Barcelona draw.
Jamie Murray followed his younger brother out of the Monte Carlo event when he was knocked out of the men’s doubles quarter-finals on Friday.
The 31-year-old and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares, who were seeded third, lost 2-6 7-6 3-10 against wildcard French pair Hugo Nys and Romain Ameodo.
Jamie
Albert Ramos-Vinolas continued his run of form at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Friday when he reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final in beating Monaco resident and fifth seed Marin Cilic.
Ramos-Vinolas, who is contesting his fifth clay-court tournament of the year (15-5 match record), experienced no let-up from Thursday’s victory over World No. 1 Andy Murray when he defeated Cilic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2 in two hours and 33 minutes.
The Spaniard, who is currently at a career-high No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, picked up his lone ATP World Tour title at the SkiStar Swedish Open (d. Verdasco) in July 2016. Last month, he finished runner-up at the Brasil Open to Pablo Cuevas, a player he could meet on Saturday if the Uruguayan No. 16 seed topples French No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille later today.
Ramos-Vinolas so nearly let his 18th match win of the year slip away, when he led by a set and 5/3 in the tie-break. For one hour and 50 minutes, the Spaniard didn’t blink. But after he dropped to 0-2 in the decider, he managed to regroup and go on a run of six straight games for his first victory over Cilic since the 2011 Shanghai Rolex Masters.
Cilic dominated the early exchanges, centered on his powerful forehand, having grown in confidence after beating ninth seed and 2015 runner-up Tomas Berdych the day before. But Ramos-Vinolas continued to slug it out from deep behind the baseline, just as he did against Murray, to wear down Cilic. Two service breaks in the third and seventh games of the first set went the way of Ramos-Vinolas, who closed out on his third set point opportunity with Cilic striking a backhand return long.
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Cilic committed an unforced error at 30/40 on Ramos-Vinolas’ serve, when leading 1-0, and his frustration began to grow on another hot day at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. Unable to make an impact on Ramos-Vinolas’ serve, at 3-3 Cilic dropped to 0/40 and paid the price with another mis-timed groundstroke. The Croatian regrouped and, in waiting for the ball, rather than taking the ball early, broke Ramos-Vinolas to 15 with four straight forehand winners to level at 5-5. Ramos-Vinolas then saved one set point at 5-6, 30/40, prior to squandering a 5/3 lead in the tie-break.
Cilic sensing Ramos-Vinolas was shaken, broke in the first game of the decider, but he couldn’t make it count as Ramos-Vinolas converted his fifth break point chance in a lengthy fourth game. Thereafter, Cilic won just five points, striking his third double fault in the final game to be broken to love.
The 29-year-old Spaniard recorded his fifth Top 10 victory (5-26 lifetime) and he is now 18-11 on 2017. Cilic, who had not lost a set to Ramos-Vinolas in their previous three meetings (including one on clay at 2012 Hamburg), dropped to a 7-8 mark on the season.
View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Friday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win!
Djokovic v Goffin | Nadal v Schwartzman | Cilic v Ramos-Vinolas | Pouille v Cuevas
After upsetting Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka respectively, No. 15 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas and No. 16 seed Pablo Cuevas seek their first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Friday. Ramos-Vinolas meets No. 5 seed Marin Cilic and Cuevas takes on No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille, with one of those four men assured a spot in his first Monte-Carlo final.
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time champion Novak Djokovic remain in the bottom half of the draw. Nadal meets 5-foot-7 Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the quarter-finals. Schwartzman’s three wins this week will ensure his rise into the Top 40 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time on Monday. He is 0-9 lifetime against Top 10 opponents (2-21 in sets).
Following three-set wins in his first two matches, Djokovic clashes with No. 10 seed David Goffin. The Belgian leads all players on the ATP World Tour with 22 victories this season, but he owns an 0-5 FedEx ATP Head 2 Head record against Djokovic (1-11 in sets). Like Schwartzman, Goffin seeks the biggest win of his career by ranking. He is 0-14 lifetime against Top 3 opponents.
Wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys meet 2016 finalists Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in one of four doubles quarter-finals to be played on Court Des Princes. Arneodo, a 24-year-old representing Monaco, also reached the quarter-finals in 2014 with countryman Benjamin Balleret. The World No. 851 bids to become the first ATP doubles semi-finalist from Monaco in the Open Era. Jean-Rene Lisnard is the only Monaco player to reach a singles semi-final (2003 Chennai).
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Lopez/Lopez, Bopanna/Cuevas advance on Thursday
The quarter-finals have been locked in for doubles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters after three teams recorded impressive victories on Thursday.
Third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Tommy Haas and Treat Huey. The British-Brazilian duo didn’t face a break point en route to wrapping up the match in 59 minutes. Next up for them is the wild card pairing of Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys.
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Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez were just as dominant in their 6-4, 6-2 win over Florin Mergea and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. The Spaniards now face fourth seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo for a spot in the semi-finals.
Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas scored the upset of the day with a comeback 6-7(6), 6-4, 10-6 win over fifth seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram. Awaiting them in the quarter-finals are top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers.
All quarter-final matches in Monte-Carlo will take place on Friday.
