Nadal faces Nishikori in final
World number one Rafael Nadal swept aside Grigor Dimitrov to ease into his 12th Monte Carlo Masters final with a 6-4, 6-1 victory on Saturday, while Kei Nishikori edged out Alexander Zverev.
The 31-year-old Nadal needs to win an 11th Monaco title to retain the number one ranking ahead of Roger Federer, and will be a red-hot favourite against Japan's Nishikori in Sunday's final.
"I really don't care if I am favourite or I am not favourite," insisted Nadal, after beating Dimitrov for the 11th time in 12 meetings.
"I go on court, I try my best. I want to win. Doesn't matter if I am the favourite or I am not the favourite."
Nadal came through a tight first set but always looked too strong for Dimitrov and raced through the second in half an hour.
"He's playing very good on clay. Simple as that. Tactically and everything else," admitted Dimitrov.
"It hurts a lot of us, a lot of the players that are maybe not as physically strong."
The top seed is bidding for an outright record 31st Masters title this week and extended his run of consecutive sets won on clay to 34 as he closed on a third consecutive Monte Carlo title.
"Being (in) 12 finals already here is something difficult to imagine. To win 10 is difficult to imagine, too," Nadal said.
"In our sport, there is not much time to stop and think about the things that have happened or not happened.
"When I retire, probably we will have the chance to think about it, how difficult all the things that I have done (were)."
Nadal, playing his first ATP tournament since he retired from his Australian Open quarterfinal against Marin Cilic in January with a hip injury, has shown no signs of rust.
Following a 6-0, 6-2 last-eight demolition of Dominic Thiem, Nadal has lost only 16 games in four matches this week.
Nishikori fought back from a set down to beat Zverev 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach his first Masters final since Toronto in 2016.
The Japanese player has struggled with a right wrist injury that forced him to miss the last four months of last season, but has looked back to his best in Monte Carlo.
The former world number four, now ranked 36, did enough to wear down a tired Zverev who came through a late-night thriller with Richard Gasquet on his 21st birthday on Friday.
Nishikori is yet to win a Masters title in three previous final appearances, including one against Nadal in Madrid four years ago.
He won his last match against Nadal in the 2016 Olympic bronze-medal match, but has never beaten him on clay.
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