Rafael Nadal cruises to the semis after beating Stanislas Wawrinka – Monte Carlo Rolex Masters 2012
Defending champion, Rafael Nadal of Spain, extended his amazing winning streak at the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters to 40 after winning his quarter-final battle against the unseeded Swiss Tennis Ace, Stanislas Wawrinka. The second
seed Spaniard outsmarted the world number 26 opponent in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to book a place in the semi-final round of the coveted clay courts event in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Nadal not only won his 40th consecutive match at this venue but also maintained his clean sheet against Wawrinka, reaching 8-0 in the all-time head-to-head series against him. The second ranked Spaniard took just one
hour and 47 minutes to wrap up the two sets. He is eyeing for his eighth Monte Carlo Masters title this time round and hasn’t dropped single set en route to the semis.
27-year-ols Wawrinka posed some decent resistance in the contest but the world number two, Nadal, was far too superior to him in all aspects of the game. The Swiss contender tried to mix up his game with angled cross-court strokes
and occasional drop shots but the agile Spaniard was always there to provide a thumping return to his strokes. Nadal delivered 74 per cent of his serve on target, bagging 37 out of 45 first serve points, while his opponent lingered behind with 26 out of 37
to finish on the losing side in the end.
Nadal crafted seven break opportunities and converted three of them to dispose of Wawrinka in a convincing fashion. The Swiss dropped his serve in the very first game of the match to fall on his back foot but retaliated in the
eighth game to level the scores at 4-4. Another cracking break of serve from the second seed player in the 11th game left him serving for the set at 6-5 and he pocketed the opener comprehensively to get one up in the match.
The Spaniard broke Wawrinka again in the first game of the following set and then held his remaining serves to conclude victory in style.
"Yesterday and today I improved the level," said Nadal. "Today was a difficult match. I had before the match big respect for this afternoon. He arrived for the match playing I think great. [He had a] fantastic victory yesterday,
6-3, 6-3 [against Almagro]. I am happy about the way that I played. I'm in the semi-finals. That's a fantastic news for me. Just looking forward to playing a good match tomorrow."
Nadal will face the ninth seed Frenchman, Gilles Simon, in the semi-finals.
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