By Alberto Amalfi | Saturday, June 13, 2015

 

Rafael Nadal did not drop serve defeating Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the Stuttgart final for the third time.

Photo credit: Mercedes Cup

Rafael Nadal continued one run and will try to end another in the Stuttgart final.

The top-seeded Spaniard did not drop serve sweeping Gael Monfils, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to his third final of the year at the Mercedes Cup.

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It is Nadal's third Stuttgart final and 95th career final. He won the Stuttgart title in 2005 and 2007 when the tournament was contested on red clay.

Continuing his mastery of Monfils, Nadal beat the Frenchman for the eighth time in their last nine meetings, extending his career edge to 11-2 agains the No. 4 seed.

The 29-year-old Nadal will face either U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic or No. 8 seed Viktor Troicki in Sunday's final. Nadal is 4-0 lifetime against Troicki; he has won two of three meetings with Cilic.

The nine-time Roland Garros champion is playing for his first grass-court title since he beat Tomas Berdych to win the 2010 Wimbledon. It is Nadal's first grass-court final since he fell to Novak Djokovic in the 2011 Wimbledon final.

The 10th-ranked Spaniard is 3-3 lifetime in grass-court finals.