“Australian Open finals should be the plot of a Netflix movie” Monte Carlo tournament director praises Rafael Nadal and gives the update on his participation in the tournament
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Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal‘s winning the 2022 Australian Open will go down as one of the most historic moments of the sport. Up against the slightly favoured World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev, the Spaniard was 2-sets down going into the third and many thought a comeback from this stage would be very difficult for Nadal who was returning to Grand Slam action for the first time since June 2021.
Nadal however fought his way back into the match-saving some important points and making shots from almost a losing position to win the match after a battle of 5 hours and 24 minutes. The win made Nadal the first man on the planet to win 21 Grand Slam titles and take the lead in the race for most majors for the first time since he won his first Grand Slam title at the 2005 French Open.
As the hard court season is about to conclude for the time being and the Tour shifts its focus on the Clay tournaments, Nadal’s schedule for the clay season is the big question for tennis fans as the Spaniard’s win in Australia has got the fans hoping Nadal wins his 14th French Open title and his 22nd major.
“I saw Nadal’s match in Australia and the truth is that it should be the plot of a Netflix movie. It’s superhuman. Nadal has extraordinary strength. Medvedev played at a high level and still couldn’t beat a competitive beast like Rafa. No need to announce that the Spaniard will play in the tournament. I’m sure he will come. It is one of his favourite tournaments and it also helps him prepare for Roland-Garros,” said Zeljko Franulovich, tournament director of the Monte Carlo Masters, during the press conference announcing the tournament.
Rafael Nadal’s record at the Monte Carlo Masters
From the 17 editions Nadal has played in Monte Carlo, he has reached the finals on 12 occasions winning 11 titles and finishing runner-up only once at the 2013 Monte Carlo Masters when he was defeated by Novak Djokovic. Nadal made his tournament debut in 2003 and won his first title in 2005. Nadal went undefeated at the tournament till 2013 winning 8 straight titles before losing in the finals in 2013.
Nadal has played 79 matches in the tournament winning 73 and had a 46 match winning streak at the tournament, the longest at the tournament. The Spaniard was defeated in the quarter-finals of the tournament in 2021, his second quarter-final defeat and barring his 3rd round exit in 2003, Nadal has reached the quarter-finals in 16 of his 17 appearances so far.
The 2022 Monte Carlo Masters is scheduled between April 10th to April 17th at the Monte Carlo Country Club. This year’s tournament will have Stefanos Tsitsipas as the defending champion.
Also Read: “My world collapsed” Rafael Nadal REVEALS the most difficult point of his career
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)