TENNIS – Roger Federer eased past Jeremy Chardy 6-2 6-1 in just 55 minutes in his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Indian Wells final to advance to the third round of the 109th edition of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. Federer will face Gael Monfils who won a spectacular three-set match against Aleksander Dolgopolov. Rafa Nadal also advanced with the same score against Lucas Pouille. Defending champion Stan Wawrinka beat Juan Monaco 6-1 6-4 to set up a very interesting third match against Grigor Dimitrov who beat Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-4 Diego Sampaolo
Roger Federer, who played four finals in Monte-Carlo in 2006, 2007, 2008 against Rafa Nadal and 2014 against Stan Wawrinka but never won this title (one of the very few tournaments missing from his trophy cabinet), needed just 55 minutes to cruise past Jeremy Chardy with 6-2 6-1. In the previous two head-to-head matches played in 2014 Chardy upset Federer in Rome in three sets and Federer won in three sets in Paris Bercy
This time on the clay court of the Monte-Carlo Country Club Federer won a one-sided match. Federer broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and held serve in the next game for 4-1 en route to clinching the first set with 6-2.
Federer faced the only trouble in the third game of the second set at 2-0 when Chardy got his only break of the match. Federer broke serve in the next game for 3-1 before holding his serve to pull away to 4-1.
Federer hit 19 winners to 12 unforced errors to clinch his 17th win in 19 matches this year
“I thought Jeremy didn’t serve very well and I felt good on the return. So I was in a lot of the service games when he was serving. I thought I served well and I had a high first serve percentage and was able to control the baseline. On clay things move ahead very quickly
Federer will take on Gael Monfils who battled past Aleksander Dolgopolov 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) in one hour and 51 minutes in a highly-entertaining match with a lot of spectacular shots in the Court de Princes. It was certainly the match of the day which thrilled the crowd.
The eighth game featured a spectacular tweener by Monfils which Dolgopolov returned with a forehand volley. Monfils faced a tough challenge in the first set when Dolgopolov broke serve in the ninth game of the first set for 5-4 but Monfils broke back before clinching a hard-fought win in the tie-break of the first set with 7-5. Monfils got the fifth and decisive mini-break as Dolgopolov sent a forehand wide.
Dolgopolov earned a set point at 5-4 but “la Monf” saved it with a service winner. In the tie.break Dolgopolov went up 5-3 in the tie-break but he wasted two mini-breaks. Monfils clinched the win with 8-6 with a down-the-line forehand in the tie-break.
“I played well. I have some hopes for tomorrow. I am happy to play at this level early in the season because I didn’t have a good start to the year. I really want to play well during this clay court season. These two matches here will help me. If I can keep it up until the French Open I might be able to do something in six weeks from now. Tomorrow it will be nice to face Federer. I admire him”, said Monfils
Federer and Monfils will play a re-match of last year’s US Open quarter final match where Federer rallied from two sets down to clinch a dramatic five-set match and of last year’s Davis Cup Final where Monfils beat Federer in straight sets.
“The preparation is different. Instead of playing just one hour before a match on clay, this time I had 10 days and I am better prepared. I feel more confident than I was in Lille”, said Federer
Rafa Nadal, eight-time champion in Monte-Carlo, dismissed 21-year-old Lucas Pouille 6-2 6-1 in 69 minutes in his backyeard where he won every year from 2005 to 2012. Nadal converted on four of his seven break points and won 75 percent of his service points. He did not face a single break point and committed just five unforced errors.
Nadal, who won only one tournament on clay this year in Buenos Aires last February, broke in the fourth game for 3-1 in the second set before breaking again in the sixth game before serving out to love.
Nadal set up a third round match against John Isner who edged past Viktor Troicki 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3). Isner gave Nadal a run for his money at the 2011 Roland Garros when the US player led 2-1 after the first three sets but Nadal bounced back to win in five sets.
“Today I played solidly. I played with no mistakes. I played aggressively when I had to play aggressive. I hit some good passing shots in the past couple of months. It is a thing I have not been doing very well. I played with the right mentality and the right concentration. I did not make consecutive mistakes”, said Nadal
“Isner is a very dangerous player on any surface because his serve works well on clay, hard-court, indoor, everywhere”, continued Nadal.
Stan Wawrinka started his title defence in Monte-Carlo with a 6-1 6-4 over Juan Monaco in one hour and 12 minutes. Wawrinka dominated the match in which he dropped just two of his first service points and converted on five of his 14 break point chances
Wawrinka got two breaks in the first set to cruise to a 5-1 lead before serving out the first set to love with 6-1 in 27 minutes. Stan the Man broke serve early in the second set but Monaco broke straight back. Both players traded breaks in the second set. At 4-4 Wawrinka got his third break of the second set before holding his serve in the next game to clinch the win.
“It was a good match against a tough rival. I trained well before Monte-Carlo. I have much ambition for this clay-court season. I grew up on this surface and it’s easier for me than for other players to switch to clay”, said Wawrinka
In the third round Wawrinka will face Grigor Dimitrov who beat Italian Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-4 in a match where he got a break in each set.
“It was a tight match, just one break in each set. He played quite well. All I could do was to stay focused and composed. I am just taking match by match, considering that I have not won that many this year. I am working oon my movement on court and on my shots”, said Dimitrov.
Tomas Berdych converted on two of his nive break point chances in his 6-4 7-6 (7-2) win over Sergiy Stakhovskiy. Berdych broke serve in the first set before clinching the win with 7-2 in the tie-break. Berdych will take on Roberto Bautista Agut who fought back from a set down to battle past Phillip Kohlschreiber 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in two hours and 41 minutes.
Milos Raonic faced some troubles but he managed to win Joao Sousa in straight sets with 6-3 7-6 (7-4) setting up a third round match against Tommy Robredo who cruised past his compatriot Marcel Granollers with 6-1 6-1 in the all-Spanish second round match.
Frenchman Gilles Simon beat the all-French match against Benoit Paire 6-4 7-5 to book his spot in the third set where he will face David Ferrer.
Jo Wilfred Tsonga got a break at the end of the first set and at the start of the second set and reeled off five consecutive games in his 6-3 6-4 win over David Goffin.