Rafael Nadal will be aiming for a ninth Monte-Carlo title when he takes the court on Sunday. Standing in Nadal’s way is Gael Monfils, who has not dropped a set or even been pushed to a tiebreaker in the entire tournament.
Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfils will be squaring off for the 14th time in their careers when they collide in the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Sunday afternoon.
Nadal is dominating the head-to-head series 11-2, including 4-0 on clay. Each of Monfils’ two victories has come in Doha, where he prevailed in 2009 and 2012. Outside of Doha, Nadal is 10-0 against Monfils and 22-1 in total sets. They most recently faced each other on the grass courts of Stuttgart in 2015, when the Spaniard came out on top of a semifinal showdown 6-3, 6-4. Their only previous Monte-Carlo encounter marked their first-ever meeting, which Nadal won 6-3, 6-2.
Looking for his ninth title at this event and first since 2012, Nadal is in the midst of what has been his best week of 2016. The world No. 5 took care of Aljaz Bedene, Dominic Thiem, and Stan Wawrinka in straight sets before overcoming Andy Murray 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.
“It’s a very important week for me, being in a final here again in Monte-Carlo (and) winning against very tough opponents,” Nadal commented. “That’s a lot of great confidence; good news for me.”
Monfils has enjoyed plenty of good news during his trek through the draw. Once in a quarter featuring both Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer, the Frenchman saw the path clear when Ferrer withdrew and Djokovic lost his opener to Jiri Vesely. Monfils has not dropped a set and has not even played a tiebreaker in victories over Gilles Muller, Paolo Lorenzi, Vesely, Marcel Granollers, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Monfils is 20-5 for the year and will climb to No. 2 in the race to London if he lifts the Monte-Carlo trophy.
“The basis of my game is to be aggressive from the baseline and not step back,” Monfils said of his tactics against Nadal. “It’s going to be a physical combat. I saw a few rallies between Nadal and Murray. These were huge rallies on clay with deep shots, and I will need to play well if I want to win. To beat him I need to take many risks, and I need to have some luck.”
Even though this looks like a smarter, more controlled, and more motivated Monfils, the odds are still obviously stacked against him in this one–and not just because of his past futility against Nadal. The world No. 16 is a horrendous 5-18 lifetime in ATP finals and all five of his titles have come at the 250-point level. Monfils has the right idea when he talks about being aggressive against Nadal, but he has always found executing such a plan to be extremely difficult.
Pick: Nadal in 2
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who ya got?
A still improving Rafa in three against Gael Force 2.0
Gael in 2 – his return game stats are incredible this season ! This week he has won 57% of return games and he has always been the quickest out of the blocks ! A break in the beginning and consistent tennis which he has been able to produce regularly this season will help him edge a tight two set affair ! Ok , he could be pushed to three but don’t see him losing in France tbh ! The stakes are just too high for him as they are for Rafa !
Agreed with zain. No way monfils loses in France tomorrow.
hahaha
The tournament is actually played in France, and not in Monte-Carlo, or Monaco.
Monte Carlo Country Club is the home of the ATP’s Monte Carlo Masters tournament. It is also the base of the Monte Carlo Tennis Academy. Wikipedia
Address: 155 Av. Princesse Grace, 06190 Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France
Color me wrong!
Serves me right. Zain and Alex knew better all along!
I guess I can see Monfils losing in France after all!
He/she who laughs last, laughs best.
Lol
Rafa’s 100 career final and 42nd masters final ties him with fed two ahead of Nole.
Rafa in two
I started out with Rafa winning easily, but now I’m not so sure.Rafa in three with one tiebreak .
wowzer
what changed your mind?
Nadal hasn’t won for a while, Monfils playing well and its France.
Just hoping for a fun match …
I have no idea whether people were being sarcastic after my comment or not hahaha.
Just to clear things up, Monte-Carlo is still a French region and the crowd will still be a home crowd for Monfils.
Sorry Zain but I couldn’t resist.
We know what you meant. Wink. Wink. 🙂
Nobody on earth can challenge a strong Rafa when it comes to clay, this is reality
in 2008 maybe
He is coming back now. The best monfils could do is to win 10 games here.
You can only move forward , you can’t go back to a state you where. His game might be better or worse but it will never be the same because he himself is not the same. As I mentioned in my blog that the factors have changed over time , some where relevant then but are not now and vice Versa. He will still have that fear factor though , no matter what but you will always not want to play him on clay !
Now that I’ve seen Rafa’s match vs Andy my thinking is that Rafa of Set 3 would beat LaMonf easily…not sure that Rafa is going to appear in the beginning of the match…I really wish for strong and confident Rafa to show up from the start to the end. I wish for tentative Rafa to go away…
Rafa of Set 3 resembles old Rafa… He totally outplayed Andy! Hope for my boy to just show up thinking like a Champion and playing like a Champion he is!
All the best in the finals, Rafa!
Vamos Champ!
I pick Rafa in 2 sets 🙂
I hope so
I guess Rafa in 2
Rafa may start today’s match more relaxed and sharper after yesterday’s comeback win; Monfils may overdo his aggressive play spraying unforced errors.
so far pretty accurate
I wouldn’t put it past leMonf to steal a set. So playing safe:
Rafa in 3
but naturally hoping it will be in straights 🙂
Rainstops play in MC.
Keep your mind sharp and focused, stay confident and show your warrior spirit, Rafa!
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgPJwGaVIAARBJd.jpg
Monfils has defeated Tsonga by a miracle. Now he’ll have no weapons against Nadal.
Nadal is straights.
Gael in 2 maybe 3 Nadal wont touch him with his weak serve.
not looking good
A double disappointment for Mummy Murray. First Andy falls short in the SF and then she has to be content with Jamie being the runner up in doubles.
It’s always a relief when Rafa wins his first service game especially if he serves first.
17 deg. Rafa’s nose tap running.
He’s very nervous.
He is hitting his forehand extremely well though…the inside-out forehand is wicked right now
Agreed. Good depth too.