Rafael Nadal ousts Ivan Ljubicic; continues winning streak at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Top seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak at Monte Carlo by 35-0 and advanced to semi-final on Friday registering a 6-1, 6-3 win over Croat Ivan Ljubicic at the 2011 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco.
The 24-year-old Spaniard downed the Croat in eighty minutes at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and extended his lead in their head to head series by 6-2. Though he lost to Ljubicic in their previous meeting at Indian Wells last year, the
Spaniard is unstoppable on dirt. Nadal is now aiming for a seventh consecutive title at Monte Carlo Country Club.
World number one Nadal is in top form and has now won 26 matches in a row on clay. The Spaniard recently made final berths at Indian Wells and Miami before losing to Serbian Novak Djokovic on both occasions. He entered this ATP
World Tour Masters 1000 event confidently and overpowered Fin Jarkko Nieminen and 13th seeded French Richard Gasquet in straight sets in the pre-quarter rounds.
In the opening match, he broke the Croat’s serve in the very first game and took the lead. Though he lost his serve in the proceeding game, he made an epic comeback as he reeled off the next five games in a row to earn a breadstick
win in just 36 minutes. Nadal broke Ljubicic’s serve four times in the set.
He kept his momentum rolling as he held his serve in the first game of the second set, smashing a powerful forehand down the line. Nadal then found the coveted break in the second game and after keeping his serve in the proceeding
game, took a 3-0 lead. Afterwards, the Spaniard kept his remaining serves and eventually sealed the set with a convincing 6-3 score line.
Nadal overall committed more double faults but he found his rhythm on the red soil. He registered an impressive 75 percent on his first serve share and saved five out of six breakpoints he faced. He also found seven breakpoint
opportunities and converted five to his advantage and had a higher return point winning share.
The 32-year-old Croat struggled to find his feet in the match and despite having a similar first serve share, he only earned a poor 41 percent win on it. He also failed to capitalize on five breakpoint opportunities and took no
advantage on the more errors his rival clobbered.
The Spaniard will next face the 3rd seeded British wild card enterant Andy Murray who destroyed Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil with a breadstick in 72 minutes. The 23-year-old British converted five out of seven
breakpoint opportunities to his advantage to clinch a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
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