Fourth seed Rafael Nadal takes on 10th seed David Goffin in the Men's singles semi-final of 2017 Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday.
Nadal made light work of Argentina's Diego Schwartzman in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) in his quarter-final outing yesterday. On the other hand, Goffin stunned second seed Novak Djokovic in a three-set thriller 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in a tightly-contested last-eight match to earn his first career win over a top-three opponent.
Even as other top seeds including world number Andy Murray, Djokovic and Stanislas Wawrinka bowed out of the tournament early, Nadal kept churning out dominating wins enroute to his 12th semi-final appearance at Monte Carlo. The nine-time champion had returned to peak from on hard courts - finishing as runner-up at Australian Open, Acapulco and Indian Wells - and he has carried it to the dirt.
Nadal was tested by Great Britain's Kyle Edmund in the first round, but he went on to decimate Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-1 in the third round to stamp his authority over the rest of the pack. Showcasing his might on clay with some unbelievable returns yesterday, the king of clay is looking favourite to become the first man in Open era to win 10 tournament titles.
Standing in his way as the penultimate hurdle is 13th-ranked Goffin, who has the most numbers of wins on the tour this season - 23, one more than his semi-final opponent. The 27-year-old Bulgarian has been consistent in the new season, reaching the quarter-final of Australian Open, finishing as runner-up at Sofia and Rotterdam but has not won a title yet.
Having begun his clay season well, Goffin will be looking to become the first Bulgarian to reach a Masters 1000 final but he will have to battle hard to stand a chance against his in-form opponent later today.
TV Schedule
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