Djokovic battles past Nadal at Monte Carlo

Novak Djokovic wins the emphatic battle of tennis against the eight time monte-carlo champion Rafael Nadal ,when the duo met at the Monte Carlo Masters semi-final.The world No.1 earned a berth in his 33rd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory in Monte-Carlo.

Djokovic who is on a 16 match winning streak, looks to make 4 consecutive ATP Masters 1000 after winning BNP Paribas masters and third Indian Wells-Miami double. The only player to do so in an open era was Nadal in 2013.

Djokovic was tested early when he reovered from 0-2 deficit in the first set but won next six out of seven games to clinch the opener in 43 minutes.It was a very high internsity battle between the Spaniard and the Serbian until the later finally defeated the former in the 43 meeting with 23-20 H2H in Spaniards favour.

“I think I played well in moments,” said Nadal. “I was able to play at the right level for moments to compete against a very, very tough player, the best player of the world like Novak is today. But I got a little tired. Then when you get a little bit tired, you play a little bit shorter. Then it is impossible against him.

“In general, I think I was not that far. For moments I was playing at a very high level. I think he played great. I just congratulate him for the way that he’s playing, the way that he’s winning almost every match of the year.”

Novak next meets the sixth seed Tomas Berdych who earlier defeated the French man Gael Monfils when they play against each other at Monte-Carlo masters Final on Sunday.