Everybody was expecting it and … we have it! It is going to be Djokovic – Nadal again.
The number 8 will be magic one… It will be either the 8th straight title for Rafa in Monte-Carlo or the 8th straight winning final of Novak with the Spaniard.
DJOKOVIC – BERDYCH 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Novak produced another gutsy performance in a very difficult week (he just lost his dear grandfather).
This time the Serb had to face to big hurdles: Berdych and coping with a strong swirling wind. The conditions were so tricky that both players couldn’t produce a remarkable tennis, actually the match was a bit dull. Novak was particularly unable to produce his crisp shots to lose the opener 6-4.
Then the world nr.1 made it clear why he is at the top of the ranking showing once again a strong focus and sharp tennis in the important moments. Tomas was just not able to cope with him.
“That’s probably one of the most difficult conditions that I played in, in my career, really,” said Djokovic. “It was not just the strength of the wind that was blowing, it was the changing of the direction. You couldn’t really predict where the ball was going to come from. It was really tough. But in the end I managed to hold my nerves and play well in the third.”
“I think that the conditions were pretty tough,” said Berdych. “This kind of wind was kind of like there were circles around. You never know from where it’s going to come. For my game, it was just a bit of killer because I like to play aggressive. These kinds of conditions don’t help at all.”
NADAL – SIMON 6-3 6-4
The King of Clay produced a remarkable performance against a very inspired Simon.
This semis was much more enjoyable than the previous one especially because the wind lost a lot of power and it was much less frequent.
The Frenchman had a very good match and surprisingly enough he was completely able to go toe to toe (and win!) in long rally with Rafa.
Gilles’ backhand was particularly effective in neutralize Rafa’s most dangerous weapon: the crosscourt forehand.
“It is always difficult to play against Gilles,” said Nadal. “He is always smart on the court and he knows how to play tennis. I’m very happy. It was a very difficult victory for me. So it’s fantastic being in another final.”
“I felt well physically and tennis wise,” said Simon. “I knew I had the weapons I needed to play a good match against him. But still it was tough to actually do it. Sad that I was not able to reach this achievement and beat him. But I was not realistic enough on certain opportunities. Against him, you can’t afford that.”
Simon’s fault was not to convert any of his 7 break point chances. A defining moment was when he badly squandered a break point (a very easy volley) on the 3-3 scoreline in the fisrt set to lose the opener 6-3.
“It’s never a good feeling when you lose, but it’s encouraging because I was able to give him some trouble, and that is interesting. My regret is I didn’t play well enough on the breakpoints I had.”
The ominous thing is that Simon played really well, but at the end of the day he just managed to win 7 games.. Ominous for Nole.
Let’s see!
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