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| Djokovic |
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 center court that has been the Spaniard’s stage
since 2005.
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.
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