Rafa-Barcelona 11 / 5 events this week

Four titles were decided overnight and already things are in readiness for another five tournaments to begin this week.

The trophies were won by:

Barcelona 

Rafa Nadal (1) who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2 6-1 for his 11th title here

Stuttgart 

Karolina Pliskova (5) who defeated wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe 7-6(2) 6-4

Budapest 

Lucky loser in qualifying Marco Cecchinato who defeated John Millman 7-5 6-4

Istanbul

Pauline Parmentier who defeated Polona Hercog 6-4 3-6 6-3

This week players are gathering in:

Estoril, Portugal for the Millennium Estoril Open (ATP 250 category)

Kevin Anderson and Pablo Carreno Busta are the top twenty players in the 28 strong draw where the eight seeds are all in the top fifty and the top four seeds have first round byes

Munich, Germany for the BMW Open by FWU (ATP 250 category)

Sascha  Zverev heads a draw of 28, featuring five top twenty players, the top four seeds having first round byes

Istanbul, Turkey for the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (ATP 250 category)

Marin Cilic is the featured player in the draw, as world number 4, and the rest of the field of 28 has only two of the worlds top fifty - the top four seeds have first round byes

Prague, Czech Republic for the J&T Banka Prague Open (WTA International category)

World top ten Czech players Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova are the top two seeds in a competitive field of 32, where the Pliskova twins meet in the first round

Rabat, Morocco for the Grand Prix De SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (WTA International category)

Elise Mertens is the only top twenty player in the 32 strong field, but the draw does boast Dominika Cibulkova, a former top five resident, and the two finalists from Istanbul yesterday - Pauline Parmentier and Polona Hercog.

Lucky loser in Budapest final / Rafa 400

Rafa Nadal (1) was down a break 0-2 in the opening set in his semi final against David Goffin (4).  However, the Spaniard is determined to win his 11th Barcelona title and proceeded to win twelve of the next 

fourteen games, winning 6-4 6-0, to be in the final once again.

Three of the players Nadal has beaten in Barcelona finals have been Juan Carlos Ferrero, Guillermo Cañas and Robin Söderling.  These past champions played their last matches in 2012, 2010 and 2011 respectively.  And Nadal is still virtually untouchable on clay as another generation comes along.

18 successive matches on clay, 44 successive sets on clay, and now 400 match wins on the surface, just the fourth man to achieve that remarkable feat.  He joins Guillermo Vilas (659), Manuel Orantes (502) and Thomas Muster (422). For clay titles, though, Rafa is top of the tree with 54, Vilas 49 and Muster 40.  Of those 10 have been Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros for Nadal, whereas Vilas and Muster raised the French Open trophy just once each.

Probably expecting to meet fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta (5) in the final, Rafa may have been surprised, as most were, to see the unseeded Greek player Stefano Tsitsipas dismiss another seed (the fourth that he has beaten so far) 7-5 6-3, and earn the right to face Rafa in the final.

Unlikely to cause much damage to Nadal, at least Tsitsipas has proved himself a quality player, and his career high ranking will have improved from 63 to 44, irrespective of what occurs in the final.

In Stuttgart semi final action , wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe has knocked out Caroline Garcia (6) in another excellent display 6-4 6-2.  This on the back of her thrashing world number one Simona Halep, gives Vandeweghe the confidence of winning the tournament.

Karolina Pliskova (5) will provide stiff competition, if her performance against Anett Kontaveit is any guide.

The straight sets victory 6-4 6-2 came after a quality quarter final match with Jelena Ostapenko (4), and Pliskova winning 36 of 41 points off her serve gave Kontaveit no chance to enter the contest.

The Budapest final has one confirmed contestant - lucky loser from qualifying Marco Cecchinato.  He outlasted Andreas Seppi (8) 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3

Darkness prevented the finish of the other semi final, with John Millman and Aljaz Bedene (5) at a set apiece 2-6 7-6(3).

Millman had earlier completed his unfinished quarter final against lucky loser in qualifying Yannick Maden 2-6 6-1 6-4

In Istanbul the finalists were determined:

Pauline Parmentier defeated Irina-Camelia Begu (7) 6-3 6-4

Polona Hercog defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-2

Parmentier will jump 30 spots in the rankings by making the final, 46 if she takes the title.

Hercog will rise 13 spots by making the final, 20 if she raises the trophy.

Tsitsipas sends Thiem out of Barcelona

Quarter final results from Europe included some surprises.

Barcelona 

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated qualifier Martin Klizan 6-0 7-5

He will play David Goffin in the semis 

David Goffin (4) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (8) 6-7(3) 6-2 6-2

Stefano Tsitsipas defeated Dominic Thiem (3) 6-3 6-2

Tsitsipas, ranked 63, has defeated three seeded players in reaching the semis, and has not dropped a set in the tournament so far.

He will play Pablo Carreno Busta 

Pablo Carreno Busta (5) defeated Grigor Dimitrov (2) 6-3 7-6(4)

Stuttgart 

Wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe defeated Simona Halep (1) 6-4 6-1

She will play Caroline Garcia in the semis

Caroline Garcia (6) defeated Elina Svitolina (3) 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2

Svitolina had her chances in the second and third sets - she led 3-0 in the second - but could only convert one of eleven break points - Garcia converted all four of her break opportunities.

39 winners for the sixth seed in her third successive win over Svitolina, all of those going the distance, and all with Svitolina taking the opening set in a tie break.

Karolina Pliskova (5) defeated Jelena Ostapenko (4) 5-7 7-5 6-4

She will play Anett Kontaveit in the semis

Anett Kontaveit defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in an epic, taking almost three hours to win 7-5 6-7(6) 6-4

85 winners between the pair, but less unforced errors from Kontaveit probably made the difference in an especially close battle

Budapest 

Aljaz Bedene (5) defeated qualifier Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 2-6 6-2

He will play the winner of the unfinished match between John Millman and lucky loser in qualifying Yannick Maden in the semis 

Andreas Seppi (8) defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4 7-6(3)

He will play Marco Cecchinato in the semis

Lucky loser in qualifying Marco Cecchinato defeated Jan-Lennard Struff (7) 5-7 6-4 6-2

Istanbul 

Pauline Parmentier defeated Caroline Wozniacki (1) 4-6 6-3 (retired)

She will play Irina-Camelia Begu (7) in the semis 

Irina-Camelia Begu (7) defeated Donna Vekic 3-6 7-6(1) 6-1

Maria Sakkari defeated qualifier Arantxa Rus 6-3 7-6(6)

She will play Polona Hercog in the semis 

Polona Hercog defeated Sveta Kuznetsova (2) 6-1 1-6 7-5

3 retirements in Stuttgart

Quarter finals have been reached in all four tournaments being contested on the WTA and ATP tours this week.

Stuttgart 

Sadly, three matches were decided by retirements.

Angie Kerber suffered a thigh injury and dropped out 6-0 2-0 to Anett Kontaveit 

A back problem caused Garbine Muguruza (2) to withdraw after trailing 7-5 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Kontaveit and Pavlyuchenkova will play each other in the quarter finals

Elina Svitolina (3) led qualifier Marketa Vondrousova 2-6 6-1 3-2 before the Czech player gave Elina a free pass to the quarters thanks to a leg complaint.

Other round of sixteen matches were resolved as expected but Caroline Garcia (6) had the most problems, taken to three sets by 15 year old qualifier Marta Kostyuk, ranked 158.  The Ukraine player was all at sea in the opening set, winning just 10 points and leaving Garcia ahead 6-1.

However, her fight in set two was admirable, winning 19 of 22 points on her first serve, and saving all four break points presented to Garcia.

Kostyuk converted the single break chance afforded her, and won the set 6-3.

The final set saw both players hold serve for the first eleven games and Kostyuk matched Garcia with great shot making.

Garcia finally broke through with the first break point of the set and won a quarter final berth 6-1 3-6 7-5.  She will play Elina Svitolina.

Other results:

Wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe defeated wildcard Laura Siegemund 6-4 4-6 6-3

She will play Simona Halep in the quarter finals 

Karolina Pliskova (5) defeated qualifier Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(4) 6-3

She will play Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter finals 

Jelena Ostapenko (4) defeated qualifier Zarina Diyas 6-3 6-0

Barcelona 

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1 6-3

He will play Martin Klizan in the quarter finals 

Qualifier Martin Klizan defeated Feliciano Lopez (12) 6-1 6-4

David Goffin (4) defeated Karen Khachanov (16) 2-6 7-6(2) 6-0

He will play Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter finals 

Roberto Bautista Agut (8) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Pablo Andujar 6-4 6-1

Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas (10) 6-4 7-5

He will play Dominic Thiem in the quarter finals 

Dominic Thiem (3) defeated lucky loser in qualifying Jozef Kovalik 7-6(5) 6-2

Pablo Carreno Busta (5) defeated Adrian Mannarino (11) 6-2 4-6 7-6(6)

He will play Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter finals 

Grigor Dimitrov (2) defeated Malek Jaziri 7-5 3-6 7-6(8)

Istanbul 

Caroline Wozniacki (1) defeated Sara Errani 5-7 6-3 6-3

She will play Pauline Parmentier in the quarter finals 

Donna Vekic defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 6-2

She will play Irina-Camelia Begu in the quarter finals 

Maria Sakkari defeated Aleksandra Krunic 6-3 6-1

She will play Arantxa Rus in the quarter finals 

Qualifier Arantxa Rus defeated qualifier Danka Kovinic 2-6 6-2 6-0

Polona Hercog defeated Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 1-1 (retired)

She will play Sveta Kuznetsova (2) in the quarter finals 

Budapest 

The top four seeds, and number six are out of the tournament before the quarter finals

John Millman defeated Lucas Pouille (1) 6-3 6-4

He will play Yannick Madden in the quarter finals 

Lucky loser in qualifying Yannick Madden defeated Maximilian Marterer 6-1 6-3

Andreas Seppi (8) defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-1 6-2

He will play Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarter finals 

Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Denis Shapovalov (4) 6-2 6-4

Djokovic stunned by qualifier Klizan

A day of upsets in all tournaments:

Barcelona 

Wildcard Novak Djokovic lost his second round match, after a first round bye, succumbing 6-2 1-6 6-3 to qualifier Martin Klizan, currently ranked 140 in the world.  Djokovic is not performing well, and lack of match practice because of this early exit makes his hopes of success at Roland Garros even less likely.

Other surprises in Spain included Stefano Tsitsipas defeating Diego Schwartzman (7) 6-2 6-1, and lucky loser Jozef Kovalik proving too good for Guido Pella 6-3 6-3

The top three seeds, Nadal, Dimitrov and Thiem, all won through to the third round, while Kei Nishikori (14) was forced to retire from his match after dropping the opening set.

Stuttgart 

In some of the final first round matches:

Wildcard CoCo Vandeweghe smashed her fellow American Sloane Stephens (7) 6-1 6-0

In form Petra Kvitova was played out of form by Angie Kerber 6-3 6-2, in a reversal of their Fed Cup result from last weekend.

Qualifier Veronika Kudermetova, ranked 193, defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(5) 6-2

The match of the day was won by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova - she beat Madison Keys after 2 hours and 44 minutes 7-6(7) 5-7 6-4.

Top seed Simona Halep won her second round match after losing the opening set to Magdalena Rybarikova.

Budapest 

The tournament lost its second and third seeds

Qualifier Lorenzo Sonego, ranked 159, defeated Richard Gasquet (3) 6-4 7-6(4)

Lucky loser Marco Cecchinato defeated Damir Dzumhur (2) 6-3 6-1

Istanbul 

Ekaterina Makarova (5) was defeated in her opening round match by Aleksandra Krunic 1-6 6-1 6-4

Second round wins have been provided by:

Pauline Parmentier over Yulia Putintseva 6-2 2-6 6-3

Irina-Camelia Begu (7) over Christina McHale 6-4 6-4

Sveta Kuznetsova (2) over qualifier Viktoriya Tomova 7-5 4-6 6-1

20yo Munar beats Sousa in Barcelona

The four clay court tournaments in Europe have progressed a little further with some second round matches played, but in most cases the first rounds incomplete.

Barcelona:

The remaining six opening round matches were played, and one was particularly popular for the local crowd.

20 year old wildcard, Jaume Munar, was born in Barcelona and still lives there.  He is ranked 174 in the world, and this was only his second main draw ATP match for 2018.  He battled Joao Sousa, Portuguese born, but also now a Barcelona resident.  After two hours and thirty five minutes, Munar came through with a 6-4 3-6 7-5 victory.

Of the five second round matches, four seeds were successful after first round byes, and the other winner was Malek Jaziri, at the expense of lucky loser from qualifying Ernesto Escobedo.  Ernesto also had a bye, after taking the place of Andrey Rublev.

Fernando Verdasco has since withdrawn from the tournament, and the fifteenth seed’s place in the draw is taken by lucky loser in qualifying Jozef Kovalik.

Stuttgart:

Five more first round matches were played and of the ten players represented, three were from Germany and three from the Czech Republic.  These two nations last week contested a Fed Cup semi final, and faced off in two clashes today.

Wildcard Laura Siegemund gave Germany a win against the Czech Republic’s Barbora Strycova 6-4 6-3

Qualifier Marketa Vondrousova struck back for the Czech Republic, defeating Germany’s number one Julia Goerges 6-2 6-2.

Germany’s wildcard Antonia Lottner lost her match, while Karolina Pliskova (5) won her way into the second round, another Czech success.

Budapest:

With just one more first round match to be played, the first seed has fallen - Marton Fucsovics (6) - beaten by lucky loser in qualifying Yannick Maden 4-6 6-3 6-2

In an epic battle, 20 year old Russian Alexander Bublik, ranked 143,  squeezed out Denis Istomin, 11 years his senior, 6-7(6) 7-6(5) 7-5

Istanbul:

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki and Irina-Camilia Begu (7) slipped easily into the second round, whereas four seeds departed the singles draw

Yulia Putintseva defeated Sorana Cirstea (6) 0-6 6-1 6-0

Donna Vekic defeated Agnieszka Radwanska (3) 6-1 2-0 (retired)

Qualifier Arantxa Rus defeated Shuai Zhang (4) 6-2 6-3

Polona Hercog defeated Aryna Sabalenka (8) 6-2 7-5

4 Tournaments spread across Europe

This week, tournaments are being held in:

Stuttgart - Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (WTA Premier category)

Barcelona - Barcelona Open Bancsabadell (ATP 500 category)

Istanbul - TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Cup (WTA International category)

Budapest - Gazprom Hungarian Open (ATP 250 category)

All these on red clay as Roland Garros draws closer.

Stuttgart:

Of the 28 women in the main draw, eight are from the worlds top ten, including number one seed Simona Halep, and 15 of the top twenty are competing - an amazingly strong field.

The top four have first round byes

One main draw first round match has been completed - Magdalena Rybarikova defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-2 and is “rewarded” with a second round clash against Halep.

Barcelona:

Rafa Nadal is the top seed and it could be a question of who will grab the runner up trophy as the Spaniard continues his dominance on the clay.

47 men are challenging Rafa, and the fifteen seeds have first round byes (13th seed Andrey Rublev was a late withdrawal). Including Nadal there are 4 top ten and nine top twenty players in the main draw.

Ten first round matches were played with no major surprises, but Ivo Karlovic had to fight all the way against wildcard Tommy Robredo, who hardly plays at all on the ATP tour these days.

In fact this was his first match for 2018: and Ivo just managed to scrape over the line 6-7(5) 7-6(8) 6-4, saving two match points in the process.

39 year old Karlovic had not won a match in Barcelona since 2006.

Istanbul:

World number 2, Caroline Wozniacki, is the only top twenty player in the field for this event, but it still has strong representation, including duel Grand Slam title winner Sveta Kuznetsova (2) and former Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (3)

The eight seeds are all in the top fifty.

Two first round matches have been played, with Kuznetsova and Christina McHale victorious.

Budapest:

Lucas Pouille is the top seed and sole top twenty player in a 28 strong main draw in Hungary.

Despite their relatively low rankings, the form of some of the players, including Richard Gasquet (3), ensures that the tournament will be a success.

Four first round matches, including two three setters, have kicked off the event.

Fed Cup semis over and 11 for Rafa

The Fed Cup Semi Finals were concluded Sundsy:

Germany v Czech Republic (3)

Julia Goerges defeated Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-2, giving Germany its first win of the tie.

Czech Republic 2-1

Petra Kvitova defeated Angie Kerber 6-2 6-2

Czech Republic 3-1 and winners of the tie

Through to the final for the sixth time in the last eight years - it has won all five finals it has appeared in through that period.

The fifth match was played for the benefit of the crowd, although the German fans would mostly have left after the disappointment of losing the semi final.  It was just a one setter 

Katerina Siniakova / Barbora Strycova defeated Julia Goerges / Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5

Czech Republic 4-1

France (4) v USA (2)

Sloane Stephens was ruthless in putting her team in prime position 

She defeated Kiki Mladenovic 6-2 6-0 in just 54 minutes

USA 2-1

Madison Keys defeated Pauline Parmentier 7-6(4) 6-4

USA 3-1 and winners of the tie

Through to the final and playing the Czech Republic in what should be a top class battle.

Parmentier can hold her head high despite losing both her singles matches - she pushed both her much more highly credentialed American opponents to first set tie breaks and was competitive throughout each of the second sets she played.

The final match was played, even though it had no impact on the overall result.

Amandine Hesse / Kiki Mladenovic defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands / CoCo Vandeweghe 6-4 3-6 10-6

USA 3-2

East of Aix-en-Provence, where the USA won their Fed Cup semi final, Rafa Nadal won his 11th Monte Carlo Masters 1000 title, and with the 6-3 6-2 victory over Kei Nishikori, the Clay King increased his consecutive number of sets won on the surface to 36.

Nadal also retained his position as world number one.

Nishikori will move up from 36 to the low twenties and top ten within reach again.

Nadal and Nishikori finalists in Monte Carlo

Semi final day in the Monte Carlo Masters provided Rafa Nadal (1) with his 34th successive set win on clay, a record achieved on his way to a 12th final in Monaco (10 wins 1 loss so far)

His latest victim is Grigor Dimitrov (4) who traded breaks with the top seed in the opening set to sit at 4-4.  Rafa was tiring of his time being wasted, and decided to take advantage of his excellent returning of the Bulgarian second serve, to break for a second time.  Of course two double faults from Grigor were a terrific help.

No aces but just a single double fault, and Nadal served it out .6-4.

The second set saw Dimitrov bowing to the clay king, as his second serve continued to be plundered.  Nadal only needed to create two break points, using both to seize a win 6-4 6-1.

26 points to 11 was the second set damage caused to Grigor.

It looked as though Sascha Zverev (3) would be the final gate for Nadal to open and enter to claim an eleventh title here, after reaching a first lead over Kei Nishikori 6-3.  It took a fair deal of time and effort, and thanks a fair deal to his serving, which was winning him points but relying too much on his second delivery.

Ultimately, the quality of Zverev’s powerful all court game was the key factor splitting the two.

Set two, and the serving woes of the German continued and his second serve could not save him.  Nishikori cleverly placed his shots and claimed 14 of the 20 points offered when Zverev was required to enter into play a secondary ball.

Whilst the Japanese number one dropped his serve once off the solitary chance Zverev had, Nishikori broke Sascha three times and levelled the match at a set all.

Zverev achieved a much better first serve percentage in the final set, yet Nishikori was still winning eight of eleven points from the second serve.  On his own second serve, Nishikori was winning 75% of the points.

At 4-5, Zverev was ahead in the game and ready to level at 5-5, but then came a series of rallies where Nishikori gave another demonstration of his tennis smarts.  He played Zverev all around the court to bring it deuce.  Next, two drop shots brought Zverev running towards the net in a futile attempt to win the points.  Zverev made ground to both but was then out of position, losing out and leaving Nishikori with a break of serve and the match win.

Rafa Nadal (1) v Kei Nishikori is the final

Rafa leads 9-2 in head to head battles, but those two wins for Nishikori have come in the past 4 meetings, including the last time the pair met.  It was on a hard court in the 2016 Rio Olympics.  This will be tougher, with Rafa on his favourite surface.

Fed Cup - USA and France 1-1

Fed Cup semi finals have kicked off with Day One singles:

Germany v Czech Republic (3)

With four of the best players in the world on display, this was promising to be a top class day of tennis - however, one team was clearly here to claim early domination, and the Porsche Arena crowd was far from pleased with the results

Petra Kvitova defeated Julia Goerges 6-3 6-2

Czech Republic 1-0

Kvitova hit 15 winners, evenly spread over the court, and only committed 11 unforced errors in a tidy display, breaking the German serve four times from five opportunities.

Goerges had an unforced error count of 23, making Kvitova’s task a whole lot easier.

Karolina Pliskova defeated Angie Kerber 7-5 6-3

Czech Republic 2-0

The match stats show a close run race in terms of winners - 17 for Pliskova (15 from her magic forehand) and 15 for Kerber.

Unforced errors flowed from the attacking approach of the Czech player, her 28 double that coming from the racquet of Kerber.

It was the forced errors (a figure hardly ever raised in basic analysis) that tipped the scales In Pliskova’s favour.  Her power gave Kerber plenty of trouble, and on 24 occasions her reply failed to find the correct part of the court.

Pliskova was forced into mistake just a dozen times.  Her 15 aces didn’t hurt either.

France (4) v USA (2)

The odds were in favour of the away team winning at least one of the two singles matches on Day One, with two top twenty players named for battle.  France had one, but because of Garcia’s refusal to commit to her nation, it had to call on a player ranked far lower than the other three on court for the openers.

Sloane Stephens defeated Pauline Parmentier 7-6(3) 7-5

USA 1-0

This was expected to be a rather straightforward victory for the top ten Grand Slam title holder Stephens against 122th ranked Parmentier.  Pauline had been ranked as high as 40, but that was a decade ago.

Still the Frenchwoman pushed Stephens hard, and the two set win was not the walk in the park that the Americans may have assumed would occur.

Indeed the first set should have been won by France before the tie break. Parmentier and Stephens both achieved two service breaks, but Pauline had ten other chances, while Stephens just four in total.

The wasted set didn’t prevent Parmentier from competing just as well in set two, but it was the second serve of Stephens that signalled the difference.  No double faults and 82% of points won on the second delivery.

Sloane only gave up two break points, one which was converted.  This time she created seven of her own, and made the most of two, enough to win the set and the match.

Kiki Mladenovic defeated CoCo Vandeweghe 1-6 6-3 6-2

USA / France 1-1

A speedy start to this match by Vandeweghe, where she handed Mladenovic a lesson in the opening set, was given a sharp red light by the French former top ten star, battling to regain that status.

Kiki’s second and third sets contained much of her best work, and she never allowed Vandeweghe the opportunity to enter the match in a competitive sense.

For the match, CoCo hit 16 winners and Kiki 12, but the 38 unforced errors were devastating for the American, as only 23 flowed from the French racquet. Yes, Vandeweghe had the power to force Mladenovic into 22 other mistakes but it wasn’t enough to prevent the French team from levelling the tie at the end of Day One.

If Kiki can repeat her heroics against Stephens on Day Two, then France has a real chance of upsetting the second seeds, and it may mean the doubles becomes a live match.

Nishikori upsets Cilic in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo quarter finals are over, with some interesting results - the Rafa Nadal (1) victory over Dominic Thiem (5) was not one of those, although it was touted as the most mouth watering match of the four.

The top seed, who needs to win the tournament, which would be his eleventh title here, to retain his number one world ranking, slaughtered the Austrian 6-0 in the opening set.  Nadal had ten break chances, and converted three, which were placed equally in each of the Thiem service games.

Things looked equally grim for Dominic in set two as Rafa gathered up the first three games.  Thiem finally won a service game, two in succession in fact, but at 4-2 Nadal put the foot down again, holding serve and then breaking Thiem for the fifth time in the clash and booking his place in the semi finals 6-0 6-2.

Facing Nadal in the next match will be Grigor Dimitrov (4), who was  a straight sets winner like Nadal, though David Goffin (6) offered somewhat greater opposition in his 6-4 7-6(5) loss.

The upset of the day was unseeded Kei Nishikori knocking over Marin Cilic. The two are famous for fighting out the 2014 US Open final, and Nishikori has been keen to exact revenge at every opportunity since.

The opening set was his, through a rock solid serving exhibition, and achieving the only service break early in proceedings.  6-4 and well on the way to a semi final.

It was a different Cilic in set two, and with the Croatian serving first the pressure was being exerted on Nishikori to play catch up which he failed to do at 1-2, and Cilic held sway at 3-1.  15-0 and appearing set to capitalise on the service break, Cilic requested immediate medical attention, apparently injuring his leg winning that point.

After resuming, Nishikori won the next six points, in the process breaking back and setting himself up to hold serve and level at 3-3.

Cilic, who looked anything but competitive, progressively began to move better, and thanks to some magic injections and movement of bandages further up his leg, he kept pace with Nishikori through to 4-4.

Nishikori took control once more, breaking for 5-4 and serving at 40-15 had two match points - these evaporated, along with a third, and Cilic broke back, ultimately forcing a tie break.

The second seed raced through this 7-1 and a deciding set was required.

Games went to serve until Nishikori broke Cilic to lead 5-3, and then, serving for the match a second time, completed the deal 6-4 6-7(1) 6-3.

He will now match racquets with Sascha Zverev (3), who came back from a set down to defeat Richard Gasquet 4-6 6-2 7-5.

Nadal to face Thiem in quarter final

The round of sixteen in Monte Carlo produced four three setters of the seven matches played.  Milos Raonic (14) handed Marin Cilic (2) a walkover, and the Croatian now has a quarter final berth as a result.

Dominic Thiem (5) and Novak Djokovic (9) battled manfully in their opening set, and it was Thiem who made the running, breaking early for a 3-0 lead.  He held this advantage, and had set point with Djokovic serving at 3-5 Adv Thiem.  Novak save this, and two more when Dominic served for the set at 5-4 40-15.

Djokovic broke and then, as he did against Coric in the first set of their match, moved inside the baseline to win the eventual tie break 7-2.  Thiem donated his third double fault on the first set point for Djokovic.

Thiem put a stop to any momentum gained from the Djokovic comeback which garnered him the opening set.  The Austrian saved a break point in his first game of set two, then broke the Djokovic serve in both the fifth and seventh games.  The set was over 6-2.

Backhand errors from Djokovic in the deciding set on important points were critical, especially when Thiem was hitting winners with the same shot at the right stages.

The fifth seed broke in the seventh game, and Djokovic at 3-5 failed to hold serve when attempting to remain in contention.

A decisive victory for Thiem 6-7(2) 6-2 6-3, and his second in a row against the Serb champion, following the 2017 Roland Garros quarter final success.

Other round of sixteen match results:

Rafa Nadal (1) defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3 6-2

He will play Dominic Thiem in the quarter finals

Grigor Dimitrov (4) defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-3 6-4

He will play David Goffin in the quarter finals 

David Goffin (6) defeated Roberto Bautista Agut (11) 6-4 7-5

Richard Gasquet defeated Mischa Zverev 6-2 7-5

He will play Sacha Zverev in the quarter finals 

Sascha Zverev (3) defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4 4-6 6-4

Kei Nishikori defeated qualifier Andreas Seppi 6-0 2-6 6-3

He will play Marin Cilic in the quarter finals