Rafa Nadal surprises everyone with his…
Rafael Nadal, 18, was among the title favorites at Monte Carlo 2005. The youngster reached the final at the previous Masters 1000 event in Miami and was looking forward to another good run on his beloved clay. Still, Rafa did not think about significant results and victories, going game by game and focusing on improving.
Nadal listed his opponents as the favorites in the Principality, keeping his focus only on his next rival. The Spaniard had great results in the first three months of 2005, winning three matches at the Australian Open and capturing two clay-court titles in Costa do Sauipe and Acapulco to find himself on the brink of the top-30.
Skipping Indian Wells, Rafa produced his A game in Miami, coming within two points of beating Roger Federer in straight sets in the final before losing in five sets. Following Valencia’s quarterfinal loss to Igor Andreev just after Miami, Rafa was eager to show off his magic on clay in Monte Carlo, where he made his debut as a 16-year-old two years ago.
The Spaniard defeated his contemporary Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 24 minutes in the first round, getting broken twice and having the advantage on the return to take five breaks and seal the deal in less than an hour.
and a half. Rafa was the most successful player in the long rallies, forcing Gael to run a lot and get tired in set number two. Following the victory, the Spaniard said that he did not intend to face Roger Federer again in the potential semi-final clash, focusing on improving his game and only on the next hurdle.
Rafa Nadal surprises everyone with his…
I’m not thinking about facing Roger Federer. I was two points away from beating him in Miami. Still, I couldn’t bring him home. I’m not thinking about future rivals, but how to improve my game and look for more wins instead.”
Fernando Gonzalez has said that he is no longer surprised about how Rafael Nadal is still playing at such a high level. “It stopped surprising me,” Gonzalez said. “I thought he was going to play until young and he is playing until old.
When he got injured, we didn’t think he was going to win Wimbledon and he already won it twice and so on. He had chances to continue for the Grand Slam. Djokovic came very close to winning it last year. It must be a huge pressure and very exhausting, I would have liked to see someone achieving that.
