Federer, Nadal on Monte Carlo tennis collision course

MONTE CARLO—Rafael Nadal closed in on Monte Carlo Masters history on Thursday while Roger Federer confidently buried his previous day’s heart-stopping brush with humiliation to move into the quarter-finals.
Second seed Nadal, chasing a record fourth successive Monte Carlo title, eased past Spanish compatriot Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-4, 6-1 to record his 21st win in 22 matches in the principality.
Top seed Federer, who had been just two points away from defeat against world number 137 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the second round, rarely looked in danger as he saw off Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-4. Nadal, who has defeated Federer in the last two finals, now takes on fellow Spaniard David Ferrer while the world number one must get past either Tommy Robredo of Spain or David Nalbandian of Argentina.
“I was patient and happy to have played so well after yesterday,” admitted Federer who said he had held an immediate inquiry into his failings against Ramirez Hidalgo with interim coach Jose Higueras. “I made a lot of errors in my first match but with Jose I was able to analyse the good and the bad and to see how I turned it around. We created a plan for today. “It’s been an interesting 24 hours for me.”
Nadal, whose title last year took him level with Ilie Nastase’s three consecutive wins from 1971-1973, said he was happy with his trouble-free progress so far. “It’s never easy to play Juan Carlos on clay so to beat him 6-4, 6-1 is a very good win for me,” said Nadal who has now racked up 95 wins in 96 matches on clay since April 2005. “I’ve had a great start beating Mario (Ancic) in the first round and now Juan Carlos.
“The first claycourt tournament of the year is never easy especially this season because I played Davis Cup indoors in Germany last week. Then I had a few days at home in Mallorca before coming here to prepare for three days.” The triple French Open champion broke in the fourth game of the first set to lead 3-1 before the gritty 13th seeded Ferrero, twice a champion in 2002 and 2003, hit back in the seventh game.
But Nadal, wrapped up the opener with a vicious, deep forehand on his fourth set point. Nadal stormed into a 5-1 second set lead which was converted into victory courtesy of a smooth forehand pass. Federer was broken in the third game of the first set to trail world number 64 Monfils 1-2 before hitting back straightaway. Federer broke again to lead 4-2, teed up a set point in the ninth game with an incisive volley before closing out the opener after 34 minutes when Monfils hit long. The Swiss broke to lead 2-1 in the second set before going to three match points on serve in the 10th game. Monfils saved one but went down to defeat with a weary netted return after a 71-minute tussle.

—Agencies