Call it deja vu, but it's starting to feel a lot like last year's clay court season, when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer stormed through the competition and met in the finals at Roland Garros.  Federer took down Novak for a spot in the Monte-Carlo finals, and Rafa ousted Davydenko.  It's the second straight week that Roger has beaten a top 5 rival due to his opponent retiring during the match (Nikolay last week in the Estoril Finals, and today Novak).  Federer is “pulling all the stops” to grind through these red clay matches, and his strategies are working, courtesy of new coach Jose Higueras.  On the other hand, Nadal is playing his best tennis of the year and seems to be getting better by the day on clay; can't wait for the finals.

RESULTS

Singles - Semifinals

[1] R Federer (SUI) d [3] N Djokovic (SRB) 63 32 Retired (illness)

[2] R Nadal (ESP) d [4] N Davydenko (RUS) 63 62

Doubles - Semifinals

[4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) d J Coetzee (RSA) / W Moodie (RSA) 60 75

R Nadal (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP) d [8] J Bjorkman (SWE) / K Ullyett (ZIM) 57 76(6) 10-7

ORDER OF PLAY - SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2008

COURT CENTRAL start 3:00 pm
[1] R Federer (SUI) vs [2] R Nadal (ESP)

[4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) vs R Nadal (ESP) / T Robredo (ESP)