Rafael Nadal Beats Gael Monfils To Win Ninth Monte Carlo Masters

Rafeal Nadal defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils to win his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal Beats Gael Monfils To Win Ninth Monte Carlo Masters

The 29-year-old Spaniard won 7-5 5-7 6-0 in Monaco to end a 13th straight season with a clay court title. With his 28th Masters 1000 win, he is now tied with Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic at the top of the all-time list.

Nadal, the all-time best player on the red dirt, fought hard against French ace Monfils, who consistently threatened to upset him and delight his home crowd at Monte Carlo.

Monfils hit a nonchalant drop shot in the very first game, and Nadal fired a winner from the baseline for the first break to go 3-1 up, and after Monfils returned the favor, Nadal edged 5-3 ahead against the serve.

Though not always recognized for his battling qualities, Monfils, 29, refused to back down and shot a stunning winner to break back for 5-4, then held his serve. However, Nadal had the final word and claimed the opening set.

Monfils, the World No. 16, broke again for 2-1 in the second set, then held his own serve from the brink of failure. Three consecutive breaks resulted in the second set going to 4-4. Monfils then broke again and forced a decider.

In the end, Nadal was able to string together three breaks between his own service games to finish Monfils in the third set and extend his personal record against the Frenchman to 12-2, his only two defeats against him having come on Qatar’s hard courts.

Nadal will now head to his home country for the Barcelona Open, where he will be the top seed and face defending champion, the Japanese Kei Nishikori, who will be his biggest rival.