Monte Carlo Masters 2019: Thursday Tennis Scores, Results, Latest Schedule

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal remain on course for a potential final showdown at the 2019 Monte Carlo Masters after both players advanced to the quarter-finals on Thursday.

World No. 1 Djokovic smashed past American Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-0 and will face Daniil Medvedev in the last eight, while Nadal got the better of Grigor Dimitrov in a convincing 6-4, 6-1 result.

The upsets came in thick and fast outside the two top-seeded stars, and No. 3 Alexander Zverev was among those shown the exit after he fell to Fabio Fognini 7-6 (6), 6-1.

No. 10 seed Medvedev surprised No. 6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Nole in the quarters. Nadal's next opponent will be Guido Pella, who's out to cause another upset after he ousted 11th seed Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Fourth seed Dominic Thiem was stunned in a straight sets defeat to Dusan Lajovic, and Britain's Cameron Norrie fell at the hands of Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 7-5.

Thursday's Results

(1) Novak Djokovic bt. Taylor Fritz: 6-3, 6-0

(2) Rafael Nadal bt. Grigor Dimitrov: 6-4, 6-1

Guido Pella bt. (11) Marco Cecchinato: 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

(10) Daniil Medvedev bt. (6) Stefanos Tsitsipas: 6-2, 1-6, 6-4

Dusan Lajovic bt. (4) Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-3

Lorenzo Sonego bt. Cameron Norrie: 6-2, 7-5

(13) Fabio Fognini bt. (3) Alexander Zverev: 7-6(6), 6-1

(9) Borna Coric bt. Pierre-Hugues Herbert: 6-4, 6-2

Friday's Schedule

(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (10) Daniil Medvedev

Dusan Lajovic vs. Lorenzo Sonego

(2) Rafael Nadal vs. Guido Pella

Matches start at 10 a.m. BST/5 a.m. ET

Recap

Both Nadal and Djokovic were in flying form on Thursday and eased into the finals phase of the Monte Carlo Masters with a pair of relatively routine results.

King of clay Nadal is yet to drop a set at Monte Carlo Country Club this year and demonstrated his might in a confident closing segment against Dimitrov following a tense opening half of the match.

The Bulgarian kept things more competitive in the first set but lost a break at the crucial climax to fall behind, and Nadal improved his imperious Monte Carlo record following a dominant second set, via Tennis TV:

No player comes near to matching his record 11 titles in Monaco, but Djokovic has two crowns to his name and is one step closer to a third after shuffling past Fritz with minimal discomfort.

Fritz, 21, successfully defended only two of his eight service games, and his Serbian superior had the freedom to showcase his shot variety, via the ATP Tour:

World No. 18 Fognini suffered straight-sets defeats in each of his previous meetings against Zverev, but it was his turn to exact revenge upon the German in Thursday's third-round clash.

He won four of the last five points in their tiebreak to edge the first set, though the second portion of their encounter was entirely more one-sided.

Tennis writer Kevin Mitchell noted the upset theme that took hold at Monte Carlo, even though Fognini converted only three of the seven break point opportunities he faced:

Medvedev has lost in each of his three previous meetings with Djokovic to date, per the official ATP Tour website, but he will be more hopeful of an upset after besting Tsitsipas.

The 23-year-old Moscow native was forced to go the distance against his Greek opponent—regarded as one of the biggest prospects in tennis right now—but improved his perfect record, per tennis writer Tumaini Carayol:

That wasn't the only shock of the third round, either, as Lajovic managed to reverse his run of bad form against Thiem and clinch a maiden win over the Austrian, via Tennis Channel:

Journalist Jose Morgado put Thursday's surprise into greater context:

He'll come up against Sonego in the quarter-finals and will fancy his chances despite the Italian qualifier's victory over Briton Norrie.

Ninth seed Borna Coric beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-2 in what was his first straight-sets victory of this  tournament at the third time of asking, and he'll take on Fognini in the last eight.