Nadal sets up title showdown against Nishikori
MONTE CARLO: World number one Rafael Nadal swept aside Grigor Dimitrov to ease into his 12th Monte Carlo Masters inal with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on Saturday, while Kei Nishikori edged out Alexander Zverev.
The 31-year-old Nadal needs to win an 11th Monaco title to retain the number one ranking ahead of Roger Federer, and will be a red-hot favourite against Japan’s Nishikori in Sunday’s final.
“I really don’t care if I am favourite or I am not favourite,” insisted Nadal, after beating Dimitrov for the 11th time in 12 meetings.
Nadal came through a tight first set but always looked too strong for Dimitrov and raced through the second in half an hour.
The top seed is bidding for an outright record 31st Masters title this week and extended his run of consecutive sets won on clay to 34 as he closed on a third consecutive Monte Carlo title.
Nadal, playing his first ATP tournament since he retired from his Australian Open quarter-final against Marin Cilic in January with a hip injury, has shown no signs of rust.
Following a 6-0, 6-2 last-eight demolition of Dominic Thiem, Nadal has lost only 16 games in four matches this week.
Nishikori fought back from a set down to beat Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach his first Masters final since Toronto in 2016. The Japanese player has struggled with a right wrist injury that forced him to miss the last four months of last season, but has looked back to his best in Monte Carlo.