The World No. 1 will face the seven-time tournament champion.
2012 Monte-Carlo Masters: Novak Djokovic Faces Defending Champion Rafael Nadal In Finals
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will take the clay for one final time this week in Monte Carlo.
The only problem for Nadal, the world No. 2, is that if he wants to win his eighth straight title, he will have to defeat a man who has defeated him seven straight times.
Yup. The last time Nadal defeated Djokovic was in 2010 in the finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Final, the last event of the season. Djokovic has won seven times after that when they met in a final, with the last being the Australian Open.
A Nadal victory would mean a record 20 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. A Nadal victory would also be the Spaniard’s first tour trophy since the 2011 Roland Garros.
Nadal advanced to the final after defeating Gilles Simon of France, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals. Djokovic’s battle to the final wasn’t so easy. It took him three sets to defeat Tomas Berdych, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
From the ATP:
“My feeling is I have much less to lose than him. I have everything to win,” said Nadal. “That’s the most important thing. That’s the only positive thing about losing seven times. The next matches, you only have to win. You go to the match knowing that the normal thing is lose but trying the best to change situation. That’s what I’m going to try.”
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