Nadal nudges past Dimitrov in three

Rafael Nadal just nudged past an inspired opponent in Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Open.

Nadal, as he was expected to do, took the first set. But the Bulgarian did not go away. Dimitrov’s strategy of pulling Nadal in with his slice and then passing him at the net, coupled with his heavy hitting, which drew errors from the eight times champion, earned him the second set much to the applause from the crowd.

The third set was tight. Dimitrov, serving first, continued to hit heavy and with conviction while a rattled looking Nadal just managed to stay with him. At 4-4 though, the Spaniard’s experience on the surface told, as he proved to be the fitter of the two. As a tired Dimitrov hit his slices into the net and failed to make drop shots, the Spaniard continued to hit deep and with spin and force the errors he needed, breaking to serve for the set. Though Dimitrov fought to the end, it was not enough as Nadal won his 45th consecutive match in Monte Carlo, beating the man he called ‘the present, and the future’ of tennis and proving that his past, which was the decisive factor on a court he has not lost on for eight years, was still very much what mattered.