Djokovic, Nadal advance

Novak Djokovic and defending champion Rafael Nadal needed a combined 14 match points to reach the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday. After Djokovic finally converted his 10th match point to beat Borna Coric 7-6 (2) 7-5, Nadal required four in a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Aljaz Bedene 6-1, 6-3. Djokovic first missed two match points with Coric serving at 5-3, then wasted another seven in a marathon game when serving for the match. The ninth-seeded Serb took a 40-0 lead in that game, but then hit one backhand long, another backhand wide, before an unforced error into the net. At deuce, Coric successfully overturned a call to get a break point but Djokovic saved it with an ace. Djokovic won the next point to set up match point No. 6, but again hit a backhand wide. An ace gave him a seventh chance, but Coric saved that one after Djokovic failed to retrieve his drop shot. Another ace made it No. 8, but Djokovic’s tame forehand allowed Coric an easy forehand winner. On try No. 9, a poor backhand from Djokovic went into the net. Coric finally broke to make it 5-5, but Djokovic broke straight back and the 10th match point did the trick with Coric sending a backhand long. Djokovic will next face fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria. Nadal had a much easier match but also struggled to put the finishing touches on his victory. Serving at 5-3 and 0-40, Bedene saved the Spaniard’s third match point with an audacious drop shot. But it was only a brief reprieve, because Nadal took his next chance when his Slovenian opponent whipped a forehand into the net. Nadal, who saved two break points in the fifth game of the match, is chasing a record-extending 11th title here. The top-ranked Spaniard next faces big-serving Russian Karen Khachanov. In other matches, Kei Nishikori of Japan overcame an early break to beat Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-5, 6-2, while No. 11 Roberto Bautista Agut, Jan-Lennard Struff, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Richard Gasquet also won.