By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 19, 2019
Rafael Nadal was pushed but persevered for a 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Guido Pella scoring his 18th straight Monte-Carlo win for his 14th semifinal appearance.
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
Squinting into the afternoon sun, Rafael Nadal stared down an unfamiliar 1-4 deficit—and the unsettling sight of Guido Pella treating his second serve as a chew toy.
The 11-time Monte-Carlo champion cleaned up his act and showed some fierce bite of his own.
More: Medvedev Shocks Djokovic
Pella broke four times in the first set and served for a one-set lead only to see Nadal romp through the tie breaker sparking a 7-6 (1), 6-3 comeback win to reach his 14th Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters semifinal.
Cracking his forehand with more controlled conviction in the second set, Nadal roared back for his 18th straight win in Monte-Carlo, stretching his streak to 25 consecutive sets in the Principality.
It was the first time since he dropped a set to Kyle Edmund in 2017 that Nadal permitted more than four games in a set at the season's first clay-court Masters. Given the fact a right knee injury forced him to concede a walkover to Roger Federer in Indian Wells and knocked him out of Miami, Nadal is pleased with his progress.
"Being in the weekend is great news," Nadal told Tennis Channel's Prakash Amritraj afterward. "Coming back from injuries is a great victory and a couple of good matches already I’m happy the way things are going. It’s important for me to be back and be competitive like this."
Armed with a 71-4 career Monte-Carlo record, Nadal will play enigmatic nemesis Fabio Fognini for a spot in Sunday’s final.
The creative Fognini overcame a one-set deficit, a couple of medical time-outs and a heavy tape job around his right elbow to rally past Borna Coric, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
The 31-year-old Fognini arrived in Monte-Carlo mired in a five-match losing streak and battling elbow and ankle injuries. Looking down and out, Fognini turned on the shotmaking brilliance jerking Coric around the court with clever angles and diabolical drop shots to roar into his first Monte-Carlo semifinal in six yaers.
An unruly breeze created tricky conditions.
On a day in which 10th-seeded Daniil Medvedev shocked world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, Pella put Nadal under pressure from the first point.
This was not vintage Nadal: He played catch-up the entire first set, won just 11 of 25 second-serve points, squirted errors from his flame-thrower forehand in the opening set and was wrong-footed at times by Pella.
Though Pella won just four games against Nadal at Roland Garros last spring, he came out firing today.
In a battle of left-handers, Pella did not shrink from the challenge of confronting the king of clay on perhaps the slowest red clay court on the circuit.
Credit Pella for not only knowing he had to go big and bold, but for actually pulling off an aggressive game-plan for much of the first set.
Aided by some surprising forehand miscues from the reigning champion, Pella scored three breaks in a row for 4-1 and held a game point for 5-1 only to net a backhand.
Slowly, Nadal began to find his range and rally. Pella broke a fourth time for 6-5 when Nadal’s forehand flew again.
Serving for the set, Pella saved a second break point pumping a forehand down the line, but Nadal continued to work the ball deep drawing another netted forehand. The eighth break in 12 games forced the tie breaker.
Zapping a twisting topspin forehand to open the breaker, Nadal drew three errors in a row. Net play was an asset throughout the day as Nadal hit a stab volley and backhand winner and followed with a backhand pass for 6-0. Two points later, Nadal thumped a smash sealing an adventure of a set that lasted one hour, 22 minutes.
Perhaps the only thing more demoralizing than losing a set on clay to Nadal is nearly winning the set—because you know the 11-time Roland Garros champion will respond with more vigor and vicious topspin forehands.
Empowered by his first-set comeback, Nadal downshifted into a higher gear in the second.
The second seed broke to open then set out to widen the gap, but Pella made him work hard to do so. Nadal saved double break point then soared to snap a clever angled high-backhand volley.
Undaunted, Pella wrong-footed the champ curling a cross court forehand for a fourth break point. Pushing Pella into the corner, Nadal attacked again drawing an errant pass to save it.
Strengthened by the 12-minute struggle, Nadal cracked a forehand winner then finally closed a fierce hold for 3-1 when Pella missed a backhand down the line.
As Nadal toweled off nearly tough hours into a physically-taxing test, Pella had to be feeling the wear-and-tear of scoring successive three-set wins over Laslo Djere, seventh-seeded Marin Cilic and 2018 Roland Garros semifinalist Marco Cecchinato en route to the quarterfinals.
Though the Argentine kept fighting, Nadal answered with dispiriting counter-strike skills.
Lunging for a stretch backhand dig near the sideline, Nadal spun, sprinted to the opposite sideline in anticipation of a Pella smash and tomahawked a blistering forehand pass that drew gasps from the crowd for love-30.
That audacious strike brought some fans to their feet and drew an admiring shake of the head from Pella as Nadal broke again for 4-1.
Closure was complicated.
Serving for the semifinal, Nadal coughed up two double faults and sprayed a wild forehand to face three triple break point in a hideous game. Pella exploited his good fortune, breaking for 3-5 when Nadal hooked a forehand down the line wide.
A demanding duel ended quietly as Pella pushed a double fault into net.
Nadal was pushed, but persevered in two hours, 20 minutes.