From 25 years of the Tennis Europe Junior Tour:
I never played against Rafa (in juniors) except in doubles. We played the deciding match of the Winter Cups ties on an indoor court. I was playing with Jamie Baker and he was playing with Marcel Granollers, and we lost. I beat Granollers in the singles, Nadal beat Matt Brown in the second singles and then we lost the deciding doubles. But I never played him in singles until we met as pros.
Does that defeat still hurt?
[laughs] Not so much, no. I’ve lost a couple of matches to him since then that have hurt more, but at the time it was definitely a pity.
Also read:
Andy Murray recalls his first match against Novak Djokovic
Tsonga rallied from a set down to defeat Roger Federer 3-6 6-2 7-5. He will meet Gael Monfils on Saturday, for a place in the Monte Carlo final. Tsonga leads their head-to-head 4-2, but it will be their first meeting on clay.
Photo credit: Marianne Bevis
Rafael Nadal make the Monte Carlo Masters semies for the 11th time after his 6-1 6-4 victory over Roland Garros defending champion Stan Wawrinka. Bothered by the noise coming from the restaurant (lame behaviour by the Swiss in my opinion…), the Swiss really started his match at the beginning of the second set, but Rafa stayed solid and won relatively easily. It is Rafa’s first win on clay over a top 4 player since his win over Novak Djokovic in the 2014 French Open final! Nadal will next face Andy Murray, who dispatched Milos Raonic 6-2 6-0 in an hour.
See Federer’s look for the clay court season:
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Andy Murray rallied from 6-2 3-0 down to defeat Benoit Paire 6-2 7-5 7-5 and set up a clash with Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals.
Photo credit: Marianne Bevis
Seriously, who saw that coming? Jiri Vesely notches the biggest win of his career, ousting defending champ Novak Djokovic 6-4 2-6 6-4 in Monte Carlo.
Other upsets today: Damir Dzumhur defeats Tomas Berdych and Lucas Pouille beats Richard Gasquet.
Photo credit: Marianne Bevis
