TENNIS – Monte-Carlo 2014. David Ferrer accomplished a rare feat by beating Rafael Nadal on clay. The 8 tines Champion lost just his 3rd match in the Principality and his 22nd on clay. Ferrer will face Wawrinka who was the winner against Raonic (read the match report here). Paul Sassoon
Interviews and images from Monte-Carlo
Listen to Nadal after the match Part 1
Part 2
Monte-Carlo 2014. The last time David Ferrer managed to beat Rafael Nadal on clay was in Stuttgart 2004, back then the Majorcan was 18 years old. Ferru won 7-6(1), 6-4 by taking the initiative in the rallies as soon as possible in a very gutsy display to win only his 6th match against his compatriot out of 27 matches. The first set went to the tie-break after they traded breaks in the early stages. In the tie-break Nadal quickly fell behind with a series of unforced errors. Ferrer didn’t hesitate and took the tie-break 7-1.
Ferrer maintained the pressure on his opponent breaking serve in the third and seventh games to take a 5-2 lead. Nadal tried ti fight back, but could only break once before Ferrer won the match 7-6(1), 6-4. “Last time I beat Rafael in clay court was 10 years ago. I had to wait 10 years to beat him in clay court,” said a smiling Ferrer in the post-match press conference. “Rafael is difficult beat him in clay court, but not only in clay court, in all the surfaces. He’s not a machine, no? Sometimes he can play not so good always. Well, maybe today he doesn’t play his best tennis, and I played very good.”
“When you play tennis, you can lose, you can win. When the opponent is doing the things better than you, the normal thing is lose. That’s what happen today” was Nadal’s analysis of the match. “I didn’t play the right way. I didn’t play with the right intensity with my forehand. I played too short. I give him the chance to have the control of the point almost all the time. He did much better than me, so just congratulate him.”