Rafael Nadal hasn’t been a winner for almost a year. But he won the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday and become the only player to win a single event 6 times in a row since tennis became a professional sport over 40 years ago in 1968. That’s quite a comeback win. He had to defeat fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco to do it, but he won relatively easily with 6-0, 6-1.
Nadal was seeded second and he lived up to that expectation by playing aggressively from the moment the match started. Though he’s won this particularly title every year for 6 years, his last win was actually in May last year at the Rome Masters.
Nadal is feeling more optimistic about his playing this year, saying that he didn’t play well last year but this year he’s been doing well since the beginning of the season. And that it was hard work, but the win was special for him because of the hard time he had last year. The Monte Carlo Masters was held on clay courts, and he’s been eliminated in the semifinals in his last two Opens this year, the Sony Ericsson and the Paribas Opens, which were both hard-court matches.
Nadal is now tied with the number one player in the world, Roger Federer, with 16 Masters titles, which is quite an accomplishment for a player who’s only 23-years old. He and Federer are only one title behind the record for the most titles held by a single player, which has been held by Andre Agassi for several years.
Nadal did say it was probably one of his best clay-court performances, which says a lot since clay is his favorite court surface. He was so ecstatic over the win that when he returned the ball with a forehand and earned match point, he dropped the ground and rolled on his back.
This “comeback” win comes after knee problems and just inconsistent play that kept him away from titles for several months. It’s no surprise that Monte Carlos is his favorite tournament, now that he’s won every title since 2004, but this week also goes down as his best week in many months. He’s undefeated there for 32 straight games. This also marks his 37th career win.
He said it was an emotional day, and that was evident to anyone watching, as he sat and wept into a towel after the match. Federer didn’t play in the Monte Carlo open, but it’s anticipated match up now at the French Open, possibly between these two players, because Nadal’s performance here leads many to believe he could take the French Open next month. He lost last year to Robin Soderling. Of his last 10 matchup with Nadal, Verdasco has been defeated every time. He was seeded 6th for this tournament. Verdasco said he hopes one day Nadal gets tired of winning there.
The last player to win 6 times at Monte Carlo didn’t win in consecutive years, but won 6 overall at the event. That was achieved by Reggie Doherty who won all 6 times before 1905.
Photo Credits: mitch98000
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