A hot Friday, and the schedule started bright and early in Monte-Carlo with what promised to be one of the quarter-finals of the day between Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin.
That was saying something in the company they kept in the quarter-finals. For the first time in a decade, the top six seeds were among the final eight men, and the other two were certainly no mean players either. Both Kei Nishikori and Richard Gasquet are former top-eight players, and had showed plenty of that form to take up their places.
Nishikori, only recently back from his latest injury absence, put out No12 seed Tomas Berdych in the first round and the dangerous young Russian Daniil Medvedev in the second. He then outlasted Italian favourite Andreas Seppi to seal a quarter-final contest with No2 seed Marin Cilic.
Gasquet arrived in the Principality from a semi run in Marrakech, and the Monte-Carlo courts are a favourite for the Frenchman, too. No doubt they revive memories of his breakthrough run here as a charismatic teenager, when he scored his first victory over Roger Federer on his way to his first Masters semi-final in 2005.
And although unseeded this year, the former world No7 had taken out one of the form players in the draw, No10 seed Diego Schwartzman, and scored an Open era French record 500 match-wins to reach the quarters. His next test, though, was a tall order: 6ft 6in No3 seed Alexander Zverev.
But to that opening match, and the latest in the burgeoning, attractive rivalry between two men born just six months apart and now seeded just spots apart.
Until last year, they had met only once on the tour, but then strung together five meetings, including the last of 2017. It turned into one of the best contests of the year, the title match at the World Tour Finals, and a victory for Dimitrov.
Their next meeting, in Rotterdam this year, would be memorable for less happy reasons: Playing for a place in the final, Dimitrov accidentally struck a ball into Goffin’s eye, and the Belgian went on to play just one match, in Miami, until this week.
By the time they took to court for their highly-anticipated quarter-final, though, they had become firm friends, played practice sets frequently at this their local club, and had teamed up for the first time in doubles—reaching the quarters there, too. But could their tennis rival that of their London final?
Well it did in fits and starts. There were purple patches where both played to their best level, Dimitrov the tall, rangy, single-hander with all the shots in the book and speed to match, Goffin the shorter by four inches but just as fast and with quick-silver footwork and pin-point timing. What is more, he reached the semis in Monte-Carlo this time a year ago, beating both Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem.
The first rally was a cracker, Goffin attempting his signature pass down the line but Dimitrov into the net to cut it off with an athletic backhand volley.
The second point saw Goffin pull off the pass, cross-court and precision, the net-bound Dimitrov nowhere near. But both swept through the first five games with ease. The sixth game, though, brought a break-through for Dimitrov after a couple of long, probing baseline exchanges, with the penetration of the Bulgarian drawing errors and the break.
That opened the Dimitrov floodgates, highlighted by a running forehand that drew gasps from the already-packed stands and a love hold, 5-2.
Goffin stopped the rot with a love hold of his own, but now faced Dimitrov serving for the set after just 25 minutes. The Belgian worked an edge, and earned a second deuce with a blistering forehand return-of-serve winner. He held his ground, fended off two set points, and drew an error on break point, 4-5.
But serving into the sun, and perhaps still not comfortable with the glare, Goffin double faulted for the first time to go 0-40 down. He fought off two set points with precision angles to the corners, but Dimitrov converted the last for the set, 6-4.
The second set, however, brought the best Goffin to the table. Having made only three winners to Dimitrov’s 11 in the first set, and far too many errors, he sharpened his returning, clipped lines on the forehand and backhand wings, slotted his signature backhand, and broke immediately.
The Belgian swung his serve wide and picked off the returns with a cross-court winner to break again, having fended off two break points in the second game.
Dimitrov finally held for 1-4, but the increasingly confident Belgian now harried the net to cut off the sliced backhand returns of the Bulgarian, 5-1. But then came recollections of Goffin’s lost lead against Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round: The Spaniard annulled two breaks before Goffin got back on track to edge the win. His loss of focus this time proved fatal.
Game by game, Dimitrov’s defence dovetailed with his attacking play to come through increasingly long baseline tussles. He broke in the eighth game, and held for 4-5 with 12 points out of the last 15 played.
Goffin had one more chance to serve for the set, and would have faced 0-30 but for a sporting concession by Dimitrov of a close call, confirmed out by the umpire but replayed in Goffin’s favour. But clearly Dimitrov was now full of confidence, worked several break chances, faced down two set points, and thrilled through a 27-stroke rally. That point went to Goffin, but the next two went to Dimitrov and he broke to level, 5-5.
The Bulgarian was then up against it as Goffin pressed for another break, another nine-minute game, but two chances missed. It would take a tie-break, the first these two had played against one another. And the balance stayed on Dimitrov’s side with the slight edge on speed, defence and attack. He would seal the match, 7-6(5) with 26 winners to only 10 from Goffin, and reach only his second clay Masters semi-final.
The embrace at the net spoke volumes: their tennis and personalities are complementary, and all the more enjoyable for that.
But next for Dimitrov is the ultimate clay challenge, 10-time champion and world No1 Rafael Nadal, who was ruthless and sizzling in his dismissal of Thiem, 6-0, 6-2, in what the Spaniard admitted was his best match of the tournament and one his best this year.
Nadal, it is true, has played little since his Australian Open retirement: He returned for Davis Cup last week, and won both rubbers on clay. So not only has he found his groove on his favourite surface but is fresh and rested—all of which spells bad news for the rest.
Dimitrov has lost 10 of his previous 11 matches against Nadal, and all three of his clay encounters. He was pragmatic, then:
“I’ve always liked to play Rafa, even though I’ve lost 10 times. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
In truth, it is hard see him beating the one who is undoubtedly Monte-Carlo’s best on Saturday, but he withdrew from doubles to rest the shoulder that troubled him through the indoor swing, though he admitted:
“I hate to disappoint David. Hopefully we can team up again.”
The other semi-final will pitch Nishikori, who survived his third three-setter of the tournament to beat Cilic in a gruelling three-hour battle, against either Gasquet or Zverev.