Rafael Nadal Wins Ninth Monte Carlo Masters Title

Rafael Nadal claimed a ninth Monte Carlo Masters title with victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Nadal, who beat Andy Murray in the last four, won 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, his 68th win from 100 finals on the ATP World Tour.

A double fault from Monfils, 29, closed out the first set in Nadal’s favour and the Spaniard recovered from losing the second to see off the 13th seed in two hours 46 minutes.

The 29-year-old has now won clay-court titles in each of the past 13 years.

Nadal won eight consecutive titles before losing the 2013 final to Novak Djokovic and called his first Masters honour since Madrid two years ago “so special”.

“I had a tough season last year, but I’ve had better preparation this year – even with a tough start to the season,” added Nadal, who withdrew from last month’s Miami Open with a virus.

“It’s great to win a Masters title again. I hope this week will help me a lot.”

It is a record-equaling 28th Masters title for Nadal, bringing him alongside top-ranked Djokovic, but a third Masters final defeat for Monfils.

They conceded 34 break points between them with Nadal converting eight of his 21 chances to edge his opponent, who managed five from 13.

Monfils, a runner-up in the Rotterdam Open in February, earned the backing of the Monte Carlo Country Club crowd as he tested Nadal throughout.

But having earlier saved set point, the pressure told on the Frenchman and he double-faulted to hand fifth seed Nadal a close-fought opening set.

The pair traded five breaks of serve in a grueling second, but it was Monfils who edged the former world number one to level.

Nadal then took control of the decider and raced into a 5-0 lead before landing a forehand winner at match point to win for the ninth time in Monte Carlo as he builds to next month’s French Open, which he will be seeking to win for a 10th time.

Credit: BBC

Rafael Nadal Wins Ninth Monte Carlo Masters Title

Nadal To Play Monfils In Monte Carlo Masters Final

Eight-time winner Rafael Nadal recovered from a set down to beat Britain’s Andy Murray to reach the Monte Carlo Masters final.

Murray broke twice to take the opening set 6-2, but wilted under the Spaniard’s power and accuracy to lose the next two 6-4, 6-2.

The win was Nadal’s seventh over Murray in eight meetings on clay and puts him into his 100th ATP World Tour final.

He faces Gael Monfils who beat fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-3.

Murray beat Nadal for the first time on clay in last year’s Madrid Masters final, but his hopes of being only the third player to earn back-to-back victories over the world number five on the surface were dashed in a brutal two-and-a-half-hour encounter.

Monfils overwhelms TsongaNadal will start a short-priced favourite when he plays France’s number 13 seed Gael Monfils in Sunday’s final.

Monfils started underdog against compatriot and eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the other semi, but took advantage of his opponent’s sluggishness around the court to dominate throughout.

Tsonga was a shadow of the player who beat Roger Federer in Friday’s quarter-final and even when he managed to break Monfils to get back on serve at 4-3 in the second set, he immediately lost his own again, allowing his compatriot to close out the match in comfort.

Credit: BBC

Nadal To Play Monfils In Monte Carlo Masters Final