Nadal in quarters with 300th clay win
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E-mail Agencies, April 18, 2014
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal finished with an ace on match point to seal his 300th career victory on clay and advance into the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals yesterday.
Also, seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer spent just 57 minutes in going past Czech Lukas Rosol 6-4, 6-1 to line up next against ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Nadal, the eight-time winner here, became just the 11th man to crack 300 wins on the dirt: the last to do so was Spaniard Carlos Moya, who ended his career in 2007 with 337 victories.
The Spaniard said he felt an improvement in his play against Seppi, with the win taking him into another meeting with compatriot David Ferrer. Spanish sixth seed Ferrer booked his place by beating Bulgarian number 12 Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2.
Nadal still has ground to cover on clay before approaching the all-time top winner on the surface — Argentine Guillermo Vilas complied a record of 644-183 three decades ago.
"I did what I had to in order to get where I am," the top seed said of his third-round win. "But playing David (Ferrer) is never easy. If you are not at the top of your game you will lose. I’m just glad to be in a quarterfinal."
Frenchman Tsonga celebrated his 29th birthday with a win over flamboyant Italian Fabio Fognini, who went into meltdown in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 defeat.
Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka earned a free trip into the last eight when Spain’s Nicolas Almagro retired before their third-round match with a foot injury.
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