Rafael Nadal proved he is still the unrivalled king of clay by demolishing world No.1 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-1 in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. Nadal had previously lost 10 of his last 12 matches against the Serb, including their last seven meetings in a row. Two of which had been straight sets defeats on the clay courts of Madrid and Rome in 2011. However, Nadal was just too consistent for a misfiring Djokovic as he won 85% of his first serves, in comparison to a poor 40% of first serves won by Novak (Rafael Nadal 5/6 to win the French Open).
This victory, despite Djokovic’s personal problems this past week, will give the Spaniard a great deal of confidence after faltering against the Serb so often in the past and he will have no doubt in his mind that he can win a record-breaking seventh French Open next month. Nadal will take to the clay courts of Barcelona this coming week also looking for a seventh title there and he is a big favourite to do just that in a field that is missing both Djokovic and Roger Federer (Rafael Nadal 2/5 to win).
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