ATP ROME: Djokovic edges Nadal after a titanic battle! Murray to face Pouille who is the first lucky loser..

Friday’s program at Foro Italico complex in Rome started late after the first quarter-final match was not played. In what should have been an interesting encounter between a player who used protected ranking and a lucky loser, Juan Monaco was forced to withdrawn due to a hip injury, which means that Lucas Pouille advances to his first Masters 1000 semi-final in career, despite losing in the last qualifying round. Thus, Pouille has become the first lucky loser since Thomas Johansson in Toronto 2004! In addition, with these points, Pouille will now be seeded at Roland Garros, which is always important for the players outside the Top 30. In one of the most important matches of his career so far, Pouille will play against Andy Murray tomorrow, following his victory over David Goffin by 6-1 7-5.

Andy is in a very fine form on clay this spring, reaching the semi-final in Monte Carlo and final in Madrid. He will play in his second semi-final in Rome, following that famous match with Djokovic in 2011, and with Federer’s early exit Murray is now safe as the second seed at Roland Garros. This was the 4th meeting between Murray and Goffin, and the Belgian is still to win a set, managing to stay in the match for just over an hour and a half today. It wasn’t the match of the highest quality, with 21 break points in total and 11 breaks in 19 games. It was hard to find the rhythm for both players in windy conditions, but Murray cruised to win the opening set 6-1 in just 27 …

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