Rafael Nadal has finally ended his 23-month Masters 1000 title drought after defeating Gael Monfils in the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Sunday’s win has extended Nadal’s already dominant record at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. Claiming a record ninth title at the event, Nadal also holds the record for the most matches played in the tournament (60) with the most wins by any player (56).
The route to his ninth title was far from straightforward for the nine-time French Open champion, who had to contend with some exceptional play from his opponent, Gael Monfils. The Frenchman produced 28 winners (three more than Nadal) as he forced the Spaniard to work hard during the first two sets before Nadal dominated the decider. The stern test from the world No.14 came as no surprise for Nadal, who described Monfils as ‘one of the toughest opponents’ on the tour.
“Everybody knows the potential of Gael. It’s obvious that Gael is a little bit up and down during his career. But everybody knows his potential is so high because he has everything to play at the highest level: good serve, movements are unbelievable, super quick, he has all the shots,” Nadal said in Monte-Carlo.
“If he’s able to play solid, he’s one of the toughest opponents you can face,” he later added.
This year Monfils has won 20 out of his 26 matches on the tour. The 29-year-old has reached three tournament quarterfinals (including the Australian Open) as well as the final of the Rotterdam tournament. In comparison, Nadal has a win-loss of 17-6 this season with two tournament semifinals, runner-up at the Doha Open and champion in Monte-Carlo.
The Monte-Carlo triumph for Nadal, which is his 68th ATP title, places him just one clay court title away from equaling Guillermo Vilas all-time record of 49 clay court titles. He will have a shot at clay court title No.49 at this week’s Barcelona Open. It is another event where the world No.5 holds an exceptional record, winning the title on eight occasions.
“Tomorrow I will start to think about Barcelona. It is another important event for me,” Nadal said on Sunday.
The ‘king of clay’ will be the top seed in the event, which also features Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer and Richard Gasquet. After being awarded a first round bye, Nadal will play either Marcel Granollers or Daniel Muñoz de la Nava in his first match.
