Day four at the Monte Carlo Country Club saw Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal edge closer to a showdown later this week.
Ninth seed Djokovic held his nerve to edge out Borna Coric 7-6(2), 7-5. Prevailing on his tenth match point to record back-to-back wins in a tournament for only the second time this year. Meanwhile, 10-time champion Nadal brushed aside Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 6-1, 6-3, in just 79 minutes without dropping serve.
Ubitennis reflects on both of those matches and looks ahead to Thursday’s action, which is set to be headlined by Djokovic’s encounter against Dominic Thiem. The Serbian will be out for revenge after losing to Thiem in the quarter-finals of last year’s French Open.
Away from the court at the tournament, the ongoing debate about the Davis Cup format continued. Nadal has cautiously welcomed the new proposal to try and modernize the event, but admits that it is far from perfect.
