Nadal, Monfils reach final in Monte Carlo

Standing in the way of a ninth Monte Carlo Masters title in Monaco for Rafael Nadal is Frenchman Gael Monfils, an opponent the Spaniard has beaten every time they’ve met on clay and who has a dismal 5-18 record in finals.

Nadal beat Andy Murray 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to earn a shot at a record-equaling 28th Masters title — with Novak Djokovic — and a 68th overall.

Monfils will be fresh, having eased past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-3 in an allFrench semifinal, breaking Tsonga’s serve six times.

Monfils has lost the only two Masters finals he has played — both in Paris — the last of which was in 2010. However, he is 0-4 against Nadal on clay.

Fed Cup: Christina McHale rewarded a selection gamble when she beat Sam Stosur 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 to give the United States a 2-0 lead over host Australia in their Fed Cup world group playoff in Brisbane.

U.S. captain Mary Joe Fernandez made a surprise decision to play McHale ahead of Coco Vandeweghe in the second singles and the move paid off when McHale, ranked No. 57, ended a run of four losses to the 26th-ranked Stosur.

Earlier, Madison Keys gave the U.S. a winning start with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian-born Daria Gavrilova who was making her Fed Cup debut for Australia.

The winner of the playoff, which ends today, will play in the Fed Cup world group next year.