Djokovic beats the ‘King of clay’

Nadal’s winning streak at Monte Carlo ends with defeat in final.

MONTE CARLO: Novak Djokovic ended Rafael Nadal’s eight-year reign at the Monte Carlo Masters with a clinical 6-2, 7-6 victory in the final on Sunday.

Nadal, the only player to win a tournament eight times in a row, had enjoyed a 46-match winning streak at the claycourt Masters event before world number one Djokovic prevailed to claim his first title in the principality.

The Serbian celebrated his 14th Masters crown and became the first player to defeat Nadal in three different finals on clay, having already beaten him in Madrid and Rome in 2011.



Monaco-based Djokovic, who made a late call to participate in the tournament after injuring an ankle while on Davis Cup duty two weeks ago, produced a superb performance to outplay Nadal on the picturesque centre court that has been the Spaniard’s stage since 2005.

Djokovic off to the perfect start

After light rain delayed the start of the final for 45 minutes, Djokovic punished an error-prone Nadal to go 5-0 up in the first set.

The match had little in common with last year’s Monte Carlo final, when Nadal overwhelmed Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 in the first big claycourt event of the season a month before he secured his seventh French Open crown.

Nadal, who took a month-long break before the tournament after winning three titles following his return from seven months out with a knee injury, saved five set points on his own serve and fought back to 5-2, only to hand his opponent the set with a double fault.

A more aggressive Nadal put Djokovic under pressure by taking a 4-2 lead in the second set.

But Djokovic dug in to level at 4-4, and after another exchange of breaks the Serbian ran away with the tie-breaker 7-1.

Trophy delights Djokovic

The Serb was pleased with his effort. “I cannot ask for a better start to my clay season,” said Djokovic. “I did not know if I was going to be a part of the tournament this year. I made a decision to play, right now, it’s the best decision of my life.”

Nadal, who is still working his way back to his best form, praised his opponent. “Congratulations to Djokovic for winning my favourite tournament,” said Nadal at the presentation ceremony. “Thank you very much to all my team [members] for supporting me.

“Last year was especially hard for me so without them and without the support of all of you – all the messages I received during that time – was very positive energy for me.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2013.