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  • Monte Carlo final preview: Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer part fifteen

    4/27/08 10:28 AM | Cheryl Murray
    - For the third straight year, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer meet in the final of Monte Carlo. Nadal is chasing a historic fourth straight title, Federer is looking for revenge for his straight sets defeat last year.

    The world numbers one and two are no strangers to each other. In the past year, they have met in the finals of Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Roland Garros and Wimbledon and also in the semi-finals of the Masters Cup in Shanghai. Now the meet in the finals of Monte Carlo once again. It will be the third such meeting in as many years - so far Rafael Nadal is three for three. Nadal is, of course, the king of clay. He held an 81 match winning streak on clay until Federer beat him in Hamburg last year. Nadal admitted that he was completely exhausted, and as it turned out, this was likely the case. Nadal came back three weeks later and beat Federer for the third straight year at Roland Garros.

    Federer has had a difficult year thus far. The first tournament he won was in Estoril just a week ago after Nikolay Davydenko pulled out of the final with an injury. Nadal's year thus far is the best he has ever had points-wise, but he has yet to win a title. As world number one, Roger Federer should be the favorite, but he is not - not on clay at least. His game matches up poorly against Nadal's on the dirt, mostly for the reason that Nadal's big left forehand with the wicked top spin kicks up very high to Federer's weaker back hand side, forcing Federer to make an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors.

    For his part, Federer is feeling confident. Since a poor second round match against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, which he just barely won, Federer's game has been clicking again. In his press conference on Saturday he stated, ““I think it's going to be an interesting match because I'm playing well again. I'm definitely going to have to use a better game plan tomorrow than compared to last year where I thought I played pretty disappointing.”

    Despite Federer's confidence, Rafael Nadal has displayed fantastic form throughout the tournament. He has not lost a set yet, though he was pushed against David Ferrer in the quarter-finals. He is not tired yet, as he was in Hamburg last year. Nadal still holds an 8-6 lifetime edge over Federer. Nadal in three.

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