Rafael Nadal Makes History in Monte Carlo

On Sunday (April 19) Spain’s Rafael Nadal made tennis history by winning the Monte Carlo Masters title five times in a row. Congrats to the hunky tennis star! Nadal defeated third-ranked Serbian Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Nadal is known to be great on the clay surface, but he knows there is always room for improvement.

“Everyone can improve in every surface, no? No one is perfect. Sure, I can improve,” Nadal said. “I always work to improve because when you feel you can’t improve, is difficult to wake up and go on court and practice.”

Nadal was not too happy with the way he served at Monte Carlo and plans to make some improvements in that area before heading off to Roland Garros, which is next month.

“This tournament I didn’t serve very well. Especially the second serve was sometimes 120 kph (74 mph). So that’s (a) disaster,” Nadal said. “Yeah, I have to play more. Have to serve better.”

Djokovic definitely gave Nadal a run for his money. He trailed 3-1 in the first set and in the third set struggled with is serve. He managed to come back with a little bit of luck and a lot of amazing tennis talent.

“A little bit lucky because he has two break points and important drop shot. I came back. That point was really important,” Nadal said. “After that I think I played really well. In the important moments, I was focused all the time.”

How did Djokovic feel about the match. Just because he lost, doesn’t mean he didn’t play one heck of a match. Possibly one of the best of his career according to Djokovic.

“I played a very good match, actually one of the best I have played against him on this surface,” Djokovic said. “It’s really unfortunate that in certain moments I didn’t play the way I was supposed to play, with a little bit more patience.”

Rafael Nadal is also favored to win his fifth straight title at the French Open, but the competition is looking fierce. It should be a fantastic tournament to watch. Here are a couple more photos of Nadal. The one with him laying on the clay court after he won is my favorite.

Source: Tennis.com

Image Credit: Newscom