ATP Monte Carlo: Nadal ousts Bedene

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By Niall Clarke

  • Rafael Nadal defeats Aljaz Bedene in straight sets
  • The Spaniard came through 6-3, 6-3
  • Andy Murray and Dominic Inglot are through to the doubles quarter finals

MONTE CARLO, MONACO- Aljaz Bedene is out of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters after suffering a straight sets defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal.

The British number one struggled with his serve as the Spaniard raced to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in an hour and 20 minutes.

Nadal earned a double break lead in the opening set, but he failed to serve out the set on the first attempt.  Bedene earned another break point opportunity at 5-3 but Nadal held on to seal the opener 6-3.

The Brit lost serve in the opening game of the second set and soon found himself a double break down again as he failed to make a dent in Nadal’s defence. The eight time champion once again struggled with serving it out and was broken at 5-2. However, Nadal hit the deadly blow in the following game to earn a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

The 29 year old will move on to face Dominic Thiem in the next round. The Austrian came from a set down to beat Taro Daniel 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, and holds a victory over Nadal on clay this year.

It was not all doom and gloom for the Brits today. Andy Murray and Dominic Inglot are through to the doubles quarter finals after a 2-6 6-3 10-5 win over Nenad Zimonjic and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

Andy joins brother Jamie Murray who has also made the last eight alongside his partner Bruno Soares. The fourth seeds, who won the Australian Open in January, saved match points to defeat Daniel Nester and Radek Stepanek (5)6-7  7-6 (9) 14-12.

Andy will now turn his attention to the singles as he prepares to face Benoit Paire in the third round. The Frenchman came from a break down in the opening set to defeat Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-3.

In Murray’s quarter, seventh seed Tomas Berdych suffered a shock exit after losing in three sets to Damir Dzumhur. Fourth seed Stan Wawrinka did not suffer the same fate as he defeated Phillip Kohlschreiber 7-6(2), 7-5.

Murray and Paire are due on court on Thursday.