The top guns continued to cruise on the red clay in the quarterfinals at Monte Carlo Friday. Top seed and world No. 1 Roger Federer had little trouble with Spaniard David Ferrer with a 6-1, 6-3 trashing to reach his first Monte Final four. Also advancing were defending champion Rafael Nadal, who easily took care of former French finalist Guillermo Coria, along with Gaston Gaudio and Fernando Gonzalez.
Federer, who lost in the quarterfinals last year in Monte Carlo in a memorable match to Richard Gasquet, came out playing spectacular tennis in the first set and actually was up 40-0 on the Ferrer serve at 5-0 before semi-choking and allowing the Spaniard a game.
After the stunning first set, Fed’s game slipped a bit in the second (again?) as Ferrer fought valiantly but it wasn’t enough in the end.
"I really have the feeling my game is in place very early in the season on clay," said Federer. "I have the feeling I'm playing a little bit better than last year on clay."
For Federer the win upped his current TMS win streak to 28 and earned him a date with the Chilean Gonzalez who he has never lost to in five prior meetings.
After early round struggles, Gonzo caught a break against Ivan Ljubicic as the fourth seeded Croatian was nursing a bum toe – aren’t we all? Gonzo still had to play well and overcame a 5-2 first set deficit to win 7-5, 6-1.
In the second semifinal, Nadal will meet Gaudio in a battle of the last two French Open champions. Nadal crushed the hapless Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria 6-1, 6-2 to win his 40th straight match on clay equaling Thomas Muster’s best. Gaudio also had little trouble as he took care of business against Tommy Robredo by a 6-1, 6-3 beat down.
"I'm very happy with how I played, it was a complete match," said the 19-year-old Nadal. "I got some confidence back. My backhand was not 100 percent today, but it was good."
Nadal and Gaudio have met five times prior with the Argy leading 3-2 but Nadal has won the last two encounter both on dirt last year.
"Gaudio is playing very well," Nadal added. "Today he played at an incredible level, especially on his backhand. But I am only thinking of my own game, and of playing well."
In doubles revolution action top seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi will meet Mahesh Bhupathi Radek Stepanek. In the other semifinal, No. 3 seeds Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic battle Argentines Jose Acasuso and Sebastian Prieto.
McEnroe Smashes Racquet then Wilander at Barcelona
At least there’s one American playing on European red clay this week. His name: John McEnroe. A day after smashing a racquet on a popular Spanish TV show, Mac put the wood to former French Open champion Mats Wilander smashing the Swede by a you-cannot-be-serious score of 6-0, 6-1 at the senior stop in Barcelona.
On Saturday, Mac will face a group A-decider against Carlos Costa who won his second consecutive match 6-3, 7-6(3) over Martin Jaite.
In Group B former French Open champion Sergi Bruguera is set to face 1996 Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek for a spot in the final.
Bruguera was an easy winner over Javier Sanchez 6-1, 6-4, while Krajicek overwhelmed another French champ, Andres "Go Go" Gomez, 6-2, 6-2.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
This week in Monte Carlo marks the first ATP Tennis Masters Series event in history in which no Americans were in the draw. But hey, they – the Americans – did play in Houston so that should count for something, right?...By the way, can you name the last American to reach the Monte Carlo final? Answer: Aaron Krickstein in 1992…. Roger Federer had never reached the Monte Carlo semifinals until now. Fed has also won 28 straight TMS matches dating back to a loss to Richard Gasquet in the Monte quarterfinals last year…Rafael Nadal is now 13 matches from tying the all time clay win streak set by Guillermo Vilas of 53 back in 1977. Projecting ahead, if he wins Monte he’ll be up to 42, then wins Barcelona he’ll move to 47 and would then tie Vilas by reaching the Rome final…During his current clay streak, Nadal has beaten Guillermo Coria the most – 3 times…A win over Gonzo on Saturday will put Club Fed into his 12th straight tournament final. Sounds impressive right? Well it is, but Ivan Lendl holds the record with 18 consecutive finals which he did back in 1981-82… Former French Open champion Albert Costa will officially retire following the ATP event in Barcelona which begins Monday. Says Al: "For me it is very special to be here to play my final tournament here. It is very emotional for me and it was very difficult for me to take this decision to retire, but it is now time for me to say Goodbye… I can not say only one moment, there are two – when I won Roland Garros, and when Spain won the Davis Cup." Costa hopes to one day become the Spanish Davis Cup captain…After serving up 23 doubles faults against Nicolas Kiefer - most in a win ever by a winning player on the ATP circuit – Guillermo Coria only could muster 8 against Nadal Friday. Bummer…Former South African Davis Cup captain Craig Tiley has been named the new tournament director of the Australian Open. Hope Lleyton agrees. Tiley also coached Wayne Ferreira, George "I Beat Pete" Bastl and Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger. Note to self: See good things do happen to those who coach Heuberger…Fed Cup begins on Saturday, for those really interested…This from Australian teen "prodigy" Bernard Tomic: "I want the serve of Goran Ivanisevic, the heart of Lleyton Hewitt, the mind of Pete Sampras and the groundstrokes of Roger Federer. I want to be No. 1 in the world and win all the Grand Slam tournaments." While you are at it Bernard, anything else? Maybe Anna’s body? Marcos’s girlfriend?. Adds IMG suit Brian "Just because my last name rhymes with Looney doesn’t mean I am" Cooney on the Aussie: "We see a lot of talented young players, but everything about Bernard points to him becoming a true ‘superstar’…Winning four consecutive under-18 ITF tournaments puts him in the top 200 players in the world already, and he’s just 13 years old."…Snap back to reality, congrats to Patrick McEnroe and wife Melissa Errico who welcomed the arrival of their first daughter Friday afternoon in New York. The yet-to-be-named child weighed eight pounds at birth. Meanwhile Patrick reportedly shed 35 pounds sweating during delivery to settle in at a new daddy weight of 135 lbs.
Top Seeds Cruise on Beat-Down Friday in Monte Carlo