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Spaniards knock out defending champions
Watch Sunday's doubles final live at tennistv.com
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez advanced to their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 team doubles final on Saturday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and will face Rohan Bopanna and Pablo Cuevas for the title.
The Spaniards reached their fourth title match (2-1 overall) after they defeated second-seeded French duo and defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 7-6(4) in 78 minutes. Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo were the last Spanish team to capture the prestigious title in 2008, when they defeated Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles 6-3, 6-3 in the final. Bopanna and Cuevas advanced to Sunday's final after ending the hopes of wild cards Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys 6-4, 6-3, and will bid to clinch their first ATP World Tour team title.
Feliciano Lopez has a 3-9 record in doubles finals, while Marc Lopez is 13-16 lifetime (3-3 in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals). The pair clinched the Roland Garros title (d. Bryan-Bryan) in June 2016.
Bopanna, 37, will now look to boost his 3-3 record in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title matches with his 16th crown overall (15-23), while 31-year-old Cuevas will bid to add to his 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia trophy (w/Marrero) in Rome and improve upon his 6-7 mark in team finals.
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Lopez and Lopez secured their first break on a deciding deuce point on Mahut’s serve at 1-1, when Herbert struck a volley into the net. The Spaniards' power helped them to break Herbert to love for a 4-1 lead, and they converted their second set point chance when Marc Lopez forced a Mahut backhand volley error to clinch the 23-minute opener.
Feliciano Lopez recovered from 0/30 to win the first game of the second set and the Spaniards went on to break Herbert for a 3-1 lead, when Herbert hit a backhand volley into the net at 30/40. Once Lopez and Lopez led 4-1, the French duo sparked into life with clever team play and Herbert, particularly, finding his range on the forehand. They clinched Feliciano Lopez’s serve to 30 for 4-5, when an aggressive Herbert struck a backhand volley winner.
Team Lopez gained a 3/1 lead in the tie-break, but were quickly pinned back. When Mahut served at 4/5, Marc Lopez struck a forehand return down the line that Herbert mis-timed on the volley. Herbert then committed another volley error on match point and team Lopez improved to a 6-6 record on the season.
Last week, Marc Lopez reached the Grand Prix Hassan II doubles final with another Spaniard Marcel Granollers, losing to Dominic Inglot and Mate Pavic 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.
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The second doubles semi-final of the day was watched by His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Bopanna secured the first service break for a 4-3 lead, on a deciding deuce point on Arneodo’s serve, with a forehand that the wild card team could not return into court. At 5-4, Bopanna then closed out the 31-minute set to 30 when Arneodo returned into the net.
At 2-2 in the second set, some quick hands at the net by Arneodo helped Nys from 0/30 to 40/30, but Cuevas and Bopanna – with a powerful forehand – combined to win a deciding deuce point to break serve. The extra groundstroke firepower of Bopanna and Cuevas made the difference as they wrapped up victory by breaking Arneodo again, when Cuevas hit a forehand return that Arneodo volleyed into the net.

All-Spanish final set for Sunday
View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the Sunday's final at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for who you think will win!
Nadal v Ramos-Vinolas

The fourth all-Spanish championship in the Open Era at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Sunday features nine-time champion and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal against No. 15 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who is appearing in his first ATP Masters 1000 final. With a win, Nadal would become the first man in the Open Era to win 10 tournament titles and 50 career clay court titles. It would also be his 70th career ATP World Tour level title and 29th ATP Masters 1000 crown. This is the first all- left-handed final in Monte-Carlo since 2010 when Nadal beat countryman Fernando Verdasco.
Here are the other all-Spanish finals at the Monte-Carlo Country Club:
2011 – Rafael Nadal d. David Ferrer
2010 – Rafael Nadal d. Fernando Verdasco
2002 – Juan Carlos Ferrero d. Carlos Moya
Nadal has won both previous meetings in straight sets against Ramos-Vinolas, in 2013-14 Barcelona. Nadal has never lost to a countryman in an ATP World Tour level final, compiling a 14-0 record, with eight wins over David Ferrer and one each over Nicolas Almagro, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alberto Martin, Albert Montanes, Tommy Robredo, and Fernando Verdasco.
Nadal is appearing in his 11th Monte-Carlo final (9-1) with his lone loss coming to Djokovic in 2013. The 30-year-old reigning champion is appearing in his fourth final of the season (0-3) and he’s trying to earn his first ATP World Tour title in almost a year to the day on Apr. 24, 2016 in Barcelona (d. Nishikori). Nadal is appearing in his 58th career clay court final (49-8 record) and he’s trying to win an ATP World Tour title for the 14th straight year (since 2004). Nadal is 28 -15 in ATP Masters 1000 finals (second to Djokovic’s 30) and overall he is 69-35 in finals.
Ramos-Vinolas is putting together his career-best week and he’s posted back-to-back Top 10 wins for the first time, defeating World No. 1 Andy Murray in the 3R and No. 8 Marin Cilic in the QFs. In the SFs he beat No. 17 Lucas Pouille, all in three sets. Coming into this week, he was 3-26 lifetime against Top 10 opponents. The No. 24-ranked Spaniard is trying to become the first player outside the Top 20 to win the Monte-Carlo title since No. 31 Alberto Mancini in 1989 (d. Becker). The last player outside the Top 20 to earn an ATP Masters 1000 title was No. 26 Ivan Ljubicic at 2010 Indian Wells (d. Roddick). On Monday, the 29-year-old Spaniard will crack the Top 20 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time at No. 19 and will climb to No. 14 if he wins the title

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