The world number one showed no signs of rustiness in Monaco as he raced through his first ATP tournament since January without coming close to dropping a set.

The 31-year-old will now turn his attention to upcoming bids for 11th titles in Barcelona and at the French Open.

“It’s important for my confidence. It’s true that the longest match here was one hour 30 (minutes). That’s great news,” said Nadal.

“Today is a day to enjoy this because winning a tournament like this one doesn’t happen every day.

“But tomorrow I need to start being focused on the next week. It’s not the moment to stop and disconnect your mind.

“It’s the moment to stay focused and to keep holding that good momentum after winning seven matches in a row on clay now this year.”

Nadal only returned from a hip injury in Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Germany earlier this month, where he won both of his singles matches in straight sets.

The Spaniard had retired from his Australian Open last-eight clash with Marin Cilic in January, but showed no signs of fitness problems in Monte Carlo.

“There remains a lot of the clay-court season, hopefully, hopefully, a lot of matches,” he said.

“I hope to have the chance to be healthy for the whole clay-court season. That’s it, yeah, it’s an important beginning.

“My goal is always the same thing — to be healthy, because if I am not healthy, I cannot have any goals.”

Kei Nishikori 

– ‘Time to say goodbye is closer’ –

The victory kept Nadal ahead of Roger Federer at the top of the world rankings and was also an outright record 31st Masters title, pulling him out of a tie with Novak Djokovic.

Twenty-four of those successes have come on clay, on which Nadal has now won 36 consecutive sets.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion said that he’s just trying to enjoy every moment of the latter part of his career.

“My true feeling is that these kind of things are not going to happen forever, so I just try to enjoy and to play with full passion and with full energy and concentration, full love for the sport for as long as I can,” he added.

“I know the day to say goodbye is closer than 10 years ago.

“It’s something that I am not worried about, but it’s a real thing. So I’m just enjoying every day and trying to play with the best attitude possible, to keep being happy playing tennis.”

Nadal extended his Open-era record as the man to have won the most titles at the same event, having first won in Monaco as an 18-year-old in 2005, and he knows it will be a hard mark for future players to beat.

“Eleven titles here, it’s unbelievable, so… It’s something difficult to imagine,” he said.

“I always say the same: If I did (it), somebody else can do it. But it’s very difficult.

“I really don’t know how these things can happen because it’s a lot of years without making mistakes and without being unlucky on this week (in Monte Carlo). I have been unlucky other weeks, but not this week.”

No player managed to take more than five games off Nadal in his five matches this week, and he will head into the rest of the clay-court season justifiably as the man to beat, arguably for the 14th year in a row.

The final whistle saw hundreds of supporters storm onto the pitch, despite the best efforts of club security and appeals over the loudspeakers at the Etihad Stadium.

There was also at least one flare let off among the fans as security moved hurriedly to ensure players could leave the field safely, with City captain Vincent Kompany and French international Benjamin Mendy the last players to leave for the safety of the dressing rooms.

There was no threat involved in the celebrations and Mendy — who had made his first appearance for seven months as a substitute — could even be seen jumping up and down and joining in with the boisterous City fans.

The FA’s strict guidelines, however, will see them investigate the scenes and there are recent precedents for action, with third-tier Wigan having recently been charged for allowing their supporters to “encroach” on the pitch following their famous win over Guardiola’s side in the FA Cup in February.

Guardiola, however, was relaxed about the prospect.

“No problem,” he said. “Football is an emotional game. I understand you have to be careful, but when they feel they want to share that they are happy, it is better they stay where they should stay, but I’m not going to tell them don’t do that.

“If they are happy I like to be close with the team. They show how happy they are and that is the most beautiful thing. The fans here were so happy.”

The City manager did joke that he would like to see his supporters “save the grass” with his side having two more home games, and two on the road, before they complete a record-breaking campaign.

The marks for most wins, most goals, most points, best goal difference and the biggest winning points margin at the top of the table are all well within his team’s reach after this five-goal demolition of Swansea.

– De Bruyne rocket –

After the pre-match festivities and a guard of honour from the visiting players, City took just 11 minutes to open the scoring as David Silva juggled a Raheem Sterling pass and volleyed home.

Sterling himself swept home from an even better move five minutes later before Kevin De Bruyne claimed the goal of the game with a 25-yard strike on 53 minutes.

De Bruyne is expected to just be pipped to the award for Players’ Player of the Year by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who has scored a record-equalling 31 Premier League goals for a single season, but Guardiola hailed the Belgian as the best player in the league in his opinion.

“From my point of view when you are analysing 10 months, there is no player better than him,” said Guardiola.

“Maybe there are numbers better but for me he was the best. But it is my opinion, the opinions of the players could be different. But in the end, in summer time he will be at home being champion.”

Bernardo Silva reacted quickly to net after Gabriel Jesus’s 63rd-minute penalty was saved by Lukasz Fabianski and Jesus completed the rout, heading in Yaya Toure’s late chip.

The rout means that six City players have now scored double figures for the season, with David Silva the latest to join that club.

“That is the reason why when one team just depends on one or two players to score goals you cannot achieve what we achieve,” added Guardiola.

“It is important, to get these numbers you have to be in a good state in all departments. We are the first team in scoring goals, we concede the least, chances we create we are the first, (fewest) chances we concede we are the first.

“The stats are good and that is why we won the league five games before the end.”

Gangjee admitted he had self-doubts after not being able to enjoy much success since his last Asian Tour win in China in 2004. However, it was his sheer will power that brought him back into the winner’s circle after enduring years of frustration.

Despite the immense pressure on 18, Gangjee managed to hit his bunker shot out to within 10 feet of the pin.

The 39-year-old would go on to sink that decisive birdie and win his second Asian Tour title with his four-day total of 14-under-par 270 at the JP¥150,000,000 (approx. US$1,370,000) event that is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO).

Zimbabwean Scott Vincent continued to knock on the winner’s door when he signed off with a 66 to finish in a share of fourth place that also included Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan and Sihwan Kim of the United States.

Although India’s Shiv Kapur closed with a 75, it was enough to win the Panasonic Swing series where he earned the top bonus prize of US$70,000 and an exemption into an event on the European Tour this year.

Moriya, the 2013 LPGA Rookie of the Year seeking her first tour title, fired a one-under par 70 while Ko shot 66 at Wilshire Country Club to finish level on nine-under 204 after 54 holes.

Seven-time major champion Park In-bee was third on 206 with South Korean compatriot Ji Eun-hee and American Marina Alex sharing fourth on 207.

Moriya opened with a double bogey and took another bogey at the par-4 sixth before turning her round around with a birdie at the par-4 eighth.

The 23-year-old sister of Thai star Ariya Jutanugarn eagled the par-4 14th and closed with a birdie at the par-3 18th to match Ko atop the leaderboard.

Ko Jin Young

Ko, 22, won 10 times on the Korean women’s tour, the last of those titles coming last October at Incheon in an LPGA co-sanctioned event. She added her second LPGA victory in February at the Australian Women’s Open.

Ko birdied the third and fifth holes and added another to start the back nine. She continued to surge with birdies at the par-3 12th and par-5 15th before her lone bogey at 16, which she answered with a birdie at 18.

Joining the co-leaders in the final trio on Sunday will be Park, whose back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 spiced a 69.

Goals from Alexis Sanchez and Ander Herrera cancelled out Dele Alli’s opener to send United into a third final in less than two years under Mourinho, having won the Europa League and League Cup last season.

Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at West Brom in the Premier League also means United need just seven points from their remaining four league games to secure second place behind champions Manchester City.

“We should ask ourselves why there is too many critics on all of us?” said Mourinho.

“We can finish second with seven more points. To do that with all the fantastic teams we play against will be an achievement for a club that couldn’t do it for a few years now.

“We need two victories and one draw to finish second with 81 points behind an untouchable City, no chance to get in the fight with them. I think second with 81 points is a good season and then we can come to the final with a good spirit, supported by good supporters.”

By contrast, a record eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final defeat for Spurs ensured their decade-long wait for a trophy continues.

“We want to win trophies, we have the staff that want to win. We can’t keep doing this,” said Alli. “We can’t throw it away. We have got to improve.”

– Top four over trophies –

Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino played down the importance of winning his first silverware as a coach beforehand, claiming it “wouldn’t change their lives”.

And the Argentine insisted that finishing in the Premier League top four for a third consecutive season to qualify for the Champions League is more important to their progress as a club than silverware.

“For me the most important is now we finish in the top four to play again in the Champions League,” said Pochettino.

“Sometimes after the game I am very frustrated, but quickly I move on and we have four games to make sure we play Champions League. It will be a successful season if we assure our position.”

However, Spurs started like the side determined to make a statement.

Just 11 minutes in Davinson Sanchez’s long ball picked out Christian Eriksen perfectly as Paul Pogba failed to track the Danish midfielder’s run down the right.

And his cross was inch-perfect for Alli to apply the finishing touch for his 13th goal of the season.

“We were dominant from the first minute and it only looked to be going one way,” added Alli. “We let ourselves down, it’s very disappointing.”

Spurs failed to make the most of their early dominance as after going in front Eriksen scuffed wide from Harry Kane’s layoff before the England striker just couldn’t reach Son’s viscous in-swinging cross at the back post.

Pogba and Sanchez have been the two marquee signings of Mourinho’s time in charge, but both have largely failed to meet the standards expected of them this season with Mourinho even dropping Pogba regularly throughout the campaign.

However, having showed the side of his game that Mourinho detests for Spurs’ opener, Pogba demonstrated his combination of physical power and technical ability as he outmuscled Mousa Dembele before delivering a pin-point cross for Sanchez to head home just his third United goal.

“I tell Alexis the same (thing) I told Paul a couple of weeks ago,” added Mourinho. “I cannot expect them to score goals, be man-of-the-match or be perfect every match, but I can expect a level where you don’t go below that.

“That is the basics. If you do the basics then in some games your talent makes the difference.”

Sanchez was involved again for the winner 28 minutes from time when his ball across the face of the area fell perfectly for Herrera arriving late from midfield and his low effort into the middle of the goal beat Vorm, who was slow to react down to his right.

The Japanese player moved into his first Masters final since Canada in 2016 after struggling with a right wrist injury that forced him to miss the last four months of last season.

But 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 when he led by a set and a break before retiring injured.

He won his last match against Nadal in the 2016 Olympic bronze-medal match, but has never beaten the 10-time Monte Carlo champion on clay.

Nadal reached his 12th final in Monte Carlo earlier Saturday by seeing off Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-1.

Third seed Zverev broke through in the seventh game and wrapped up the first set with relative comfort.

Nishikori hit back early in the second to move 2-0 ahead, but Zverev refocused and drew level.

The Japanese reeled off four straight games to force a decider, though, as Zverev failed to secure a first straight-sets win of the week.

Both players saved two break points in their first service games of the third set, before solidifying their serves as the set became a battle of attrition.

But Nishikori brought up a match point in the 10th game with a body shot at the net, and German Zverev scooped a backhand wide to send the 28-year-old through to Sunday’s final.

But that may not help the Italians much as they become the latest side to face the gauntlet of Anfield on a European night in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final, first leg as Salah has blossomed into a goalscoring machine very few saw coming at the start of the season.

Salah’s then club record price tag was questioned at the time of the deal coming just two years after he failed to make an impression in the Premier League with Chelsea.

Now, though, it looks like an incredible bargain as Salah has netted 41 goals in 46 games to take Liverpool back to the last four of Europe’s premier club competition for the first time in a decade.

“It wasn’t like a lot of other teams than Liverpool were banging down the door,” Roma’s American co-owner James Pallotta told the BBC’s World Football programme.

“I think today a lot of teams are kicking themselves in the head that they didn’t take a closer look at him.”

In a nomadic career since moving to Europe as a 19-year-old, Salah was known for his pace and dribbling ability in spells at Basel and Fiorentina either side of a short time at Chelsea before moving to Roma.

However, the capability he has shown time and again this season to keep a cool head in front of goal used to so often fail him.

Most famously of all, Salah missed a series of one-on-ones with Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas as Roma bowed of the Champions League at the last 16 to the side that would go onto win the competition in 2016.

– Masterful Klopp –

“In Roma he was amazing. Every game he created a lot of chances, but sometimes missed,” said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who suffered from Salah’s new found confidence in front of goal as he scored in each leg of Liverpool’s 5-1 aggregate thrashing of the Premier League champions in the quarter-finals.

“This season I think the way Jurgen Klopp wants to play is perfect for him. I think Jurgen is a master to buy players with what he really needs for the way he wants to play.”

Pallotta agrees that Klopp’s system of a fluid front three also including Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane is what has brought the best out of Salah, who had to feed off the target man figure of Edin Dzeko at Roma.

“He’s obviously had an incredible year. I think the coach there has clearly figured out how best to utilise him, using him in a different position I would say to Roma because you’ve got Dzeko in the middle.”

Despite Liverpool’s heroics against City in the last eight, they were upstaged by Roma for performance of the round.

The Serie A side overturned a 4-1 first leg deficit to beat Barcelona on away goals by shutting out Lionel Messi and a former Liverpool favourite Luis Suarez in a famous 3-0 second leg win.

However, a record of losing their last three Champions League games on the road — conceding eight goals in the process — doesn’t bode well ahead of a visit to fortress Anfield.

Salah matched Suarez’s Premier League record of 31 goals in a single campaign on Saturday and stopping their former team-mate over two legs may prove a step too far for Roma in their first appearance in the last four since they lost to Liverpool in the 1984 final.

Messi had scored once and Suarez twice before even the half-time whistle had blown at the Wanda Metropolitano, with the sublime Andres Iniesta and Philippe Coutinho later compounding Sevilla’s humiliation.

Barca’s exhilarating display earns them their 30th triumph in this competition and fourth in a row, having reached the final in each of the last five years.

But, despite hugs and high-fives at the end, the real celebrations will be put on ice until next Sunday, when victory over Deportivo La Coruna will confirm Ernesto Valverde’s side as La Liga champions too.

Even a clean sweep of the domestic trophies, perhaps polished by La Liga’s first ever unbeaten season, will not eradicate the lingering disappointment from Barca’s Champions League exit to Roma.

But this performance, as easy on the eye as it was emphatic, will certainly serve as a counter-point to those that believe Valverde’s team have been efficient, rather than exciting this season, and overly reliant on Messi.

“Winning the Cup does not hide the disappointment in Rome,” Suarez said after the match. “But at the beginning of the season anyone would have signed for a double.”

Messi was, of course, superb again on Saturday but this was not a one-man show.

Suarez scored his 31st and 32nd goals of the season while Iniesta delivered one of those effortless displays, in which at times he was virtually unplayable.

If this is to be the 33-year-old’s last Barca final before departing for China, it was a fitting farewell, with only goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen absent from the 10-man huddle that engulfed the Spaniard following his shimmying fourth.

By the time Coutinho converted his penalty in the 69th minute, Barca were simply sharing the goals around.

For Sevilla, defeat was always the most likely scenario but this was a whitewash.

Sitting eighth in La Liga, even Europa League qualification now looks an outside bet and there may be repercussions for coach Vincenzo Montella and some of his players in the summer.

Amid ongoing political unrest between Catalonia and the Spanish government, Barca fans whistled during the national anthem before kick-off, with king Felipe VI watching on.

Barcelona’s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi holds his son Thiago.

Their jeers, however, were drowned out by the chants of Sevilla supporters.

On the pitch, Sevilla were second best from minute one, as Barca swarmed forward with barely a pause for breath in the opening quarter of an hour.

When the first goal arrived it came from a long Cillessen punt downfield as Coutinho found himself free behind the Sevilla backline and squared for Suarez to stab home.

Sevilla enjoyed perhaps their best period before the half-hour as three white shirts failed to connect with Jesus Navas’ cross and Franco Vazquez could have done better with a free header.

But Barca were in control. Iniesta hit the bar with a rasping shot from distance and soon they were two up, Jordi Alba keeping the ball alive with a backheel that Messi slammed into the roof of the net.

Messi could have had a second were it not for an incorrect offside call and then a cynical foul by Sergio Escudero, for which he was lucky only to receive a yellow card.

Both mattered little, however, as Messi set Suarez free in the 41st minute, and the Uruguayan slid a third under David Soria.

It was another one-two, with Messi again the pivot, that released Iniesta in the second half as the midfielder’s dummy-shot left Soria scrambling and an open net for the midfielder to finish into.

Resigned to their fate, Sevilla’s fans sang to the end, even as Coutinho despatched a penalty to make it five after the ball had struck Clement Lenglet on the arm.

All that was left was for Iniesta’s substitution to be given a standing ovation before the captain hoisted the trophy, perhaps for the final time.

After finishing second in the group stage to earn a berth at the 2019 World Cup Finals in France, Thailand lost a hard- fought semi-final game to Australia in a penalty shoot-out 2-2 (3-1) and then to China (3-0) to finish fourth.

Nevertheless, reaching the semi-finals was still the best result achieved by the Thai women since they also reached the last four in 1983.

Nuengrutai said that while she had hoped for a better outcome they had suffered due to loss of several key players to injuries.

‘Our players are still tired from the semi-final match with Australia, we had to rest some experienced players and replaced them with younger ones,” said the 46-year-old coach.

“But the bottom line is we achieved the primary target of winning a spot at the World Cup Finals. Also our players have improved their performance by playing close matches with stronger teams.”

Thailand, also under Nuengrutai, made their first appearance at the World Cup in Canada three years ago but failed to get beyond the group stage. Improving on that in France is therefore their next target.

“We definitely want to do better than last time, which is to reach the round of 16. But to achieve that we have to improve the physical strength of our players first,” said Nuengrutai.

Due to the height disadvantage of her players, the Thai coach said they needed to strengthen their physical condition in order to be able to take on powerful teams like Australia and China.

“They need to be faster and tough enough to deal with the taller girls,” she said.

In addition to their fitness, Nuengruthai said her players also had to fix some of their technical skills, such as how to deal with high crosses, especially from corners.

The more pressing task, meanwhile, is for several injured players, including goalkeeper Waraporn Boonsing, to recover in time for the Asian Games in Jakarta in August.

The 31-year-old, who needs to win an 11th Monaco title to retain the number one ranking ahead of Roger Federer, will face either Kei Nishikori or Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s final.

“Every year is different and equally special,” said Nadal, after beating Dimitrov for the 11th time in 12 meetings.

“So I’ll just focus on doing the things that I have to do to give me another chance tomorrow. That’s it.

“I don’t want to think about another title yet, I just want to think about the way I have to play and try to be ready for it.”

Nadal came through a tight first set but always looked too strong for Dimitrov and raced through the second in half an hour.

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.

Nadal, playing his first ATP tournament since he retired from his Australian Open quarter-final 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.

Dimitrov immediately put Nadal’s serve under pressure with two perfectly-judged lobs forcing deuce, but the top seed came through an eight-minute opener.

Nadal didn’t take long to get into his stride, breaking at the first time of asking as Dimitrov struggled in the longer rallies.

Grigor Dimitrov 

The Bulgarian continued to go for his shots and brought up three break-back points in game five as Nadal followed a double fault with two wayward groundstrokes.

Nadal fired long, before Dimitrov saved a break point himself with a venomous forehand to level at 3-3.

The fourth seed was displaying the resolve needed to push Nadal on his favourite surface, and came back from break point down again as the Spaniard continued to miss chances.

But Dimitrov wasted all of his earlier good work, handing Nadal two set points with back-to-back double faults and a wild forehand.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion wrapped up the set with a whipped forehand onto the line.

That effectively ended Dimitrov’s chances, and Nadal broke to love in the second game of the second set.

Nadal stormed towards the finishing line with eight straight points on his opponent’s serve and a wide Dimitrov backhand wrapped up yet another comfortable victory.