Federer succumbs, Nadal wins singes and doubles at Monte Carlo 2008

courtesy: tennis.com

The Monte Carlo 2008 final, a re-match of the 2006 and 2007 finalists Nadal and Federer, was the very same when it came to producing the winner too. Nadal, unbeatable on clay with a record 98 victories in 99 matches did not give it away to the Swiss, the only player to have defeated him once on clay sice 2005. Talking of records, Rafa is the only modern era player to hold Monte Carlo Masters trophy for a consecutive fourth time. His consistency needs no references.

Match was a delight (except the outcome of course :-) ) to watch. Federer opened unbelievably superbly in both the sets and had the first chances. Both players beaten with one breaks initially in the first set showed some good play, though not a lot of long rallies. They played almost comparably till Fed's backhand started betraying him and Nadal took the first set 7-5. But that was not the end of story since the Swiss returned phenomenally with intelligent angles in the second set to get a staggering 4-0 lead. It seemed like it was a new Federer that Rafa was witnessing. But Roger's accuracy could not have waxed and then waned at a worse moment. Just when he looked like taking the match to a decider third set, the errors started to bleed off his serves. Nadal's focus, aggression and precision proved too unbeatable for the first seed and he succumbed to a 7-5 7-5 defeat.

I am sure he is utterly disappointed since he was getting the tactics right in patches but the performance was just not consistently up to the mark to trouble the defending Spaniard. Rafael Nadal - what can be said, he is awesome. And who wins 4 matches in 2 days like that?
"I thought lose with 6-2 if I have to lose, at least not with 6-0"
- Rafa on his trailing 0-4 in second set.
How amazing is that attitude! Mark of a champion for sure because many players would think its not worth the effort after having a set lead and that they would fight in the next set.

Monte Carlo action was a double treat for the weekend and a perfect start to the clay season. Lots of action coming up with Masters Series in Rome(5th May), Hamburg(12th May) and then the climax in Roland Garros.

Final highlights