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Nadal's coach unhappy with the show
Rafael Nadal wrapped up a fifth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title but his uncle and coach Toni is still not happy.
Monte Carlo:
Rafael Nadal wrapped up a fifth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title and is overwhelming favourite to make it five-in-a-row at the French Open, but his uncle and coach Toni is still not happy.
World number one Nadal enjoyed a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday to equal the record of five titles set by New Zealander Anthony Wilding from a century ago.
He is now 23-1 in claycourt finals, with his only loss coming at Hamburg in May 2007 to Roger Federer and has pulled level with the Swiss with 14 Masters crowns.
Uncle Toni however wants more. "He played a good third set, but it's obvious he must play better than this week," said Nadal senior. "He was missing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was incredibly weak. But it's the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it'll get better.
"We know that there's a lot of work to do before Roland-Garros. But he still won. It's a very important tournament for us and to win for a fifth time is incredible."
Nadal, who now has a 139-4 winning record on clay since 2005, insists that thoughts of a fifth French Open triumph are at the back of his mind with the Barcelona and Rome Masters to come in between a return to Paris.
"I'm not thinking about Roland Garros yet, I'm focused on Barcelona and Rome - there are more important tournaments before Paris," said Nadal.
"It's unbelievable to win five titles in Monte Carlo. If I had to pick one Masters Series to win before the season it would be here.
"I felt well physically and mentally on the court." Djokovic, the world number three, praised Nadal's claycourt power.
"You just have to be focused every single point because you have a player on the other side of the net that doesn't really give you any points," said the Serbian.
"You could see him at 5-1 in the third set, he played like it's 5-all. He really doesn't care about the result. He just wants to give his best every single point. That's why he's very unique and that's why he's the best now."
World number one Nadal enjoyed a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic in the final on Sunday to equal the record of five titles set by New Zealander Anthony Wilding from a century ago.
He is now 23-1 in claycourt finals, with his only loss coming at Hamburg in May 2007 to Roger Federer and has pulled level with the Swiss with 14 Masters crowns.
Uncle Toni however wants more. "He played a good third set, but it's obvious he must play better than this week," said Nadal senior. "He was missing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was incredibly weak. But it's the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it'll get better.
"We know that there's a lot of work to do before Roland-Garros. But he still won. It's a very important tournament for us and to win for a fifth time is incredible."
Nadal, who now has a 139-4 winning record on clay since 2005, insists that thoughts of a fifth French Open triumph are at the back of his mind with the Barcelona and Rome Masters to come in between a return to Paris.
"I'm not thinking about Roland Garros yet, I'm focused on Barcelona and Rome - there are more important tournaments before Paris," said Nadal.
"It's unbelievable to win five titles in Monte Carlo. If I had to pick one Masters Series to win before the season it would be here.
"I felt well physically and mentally on the court." Djokovic, the world number three, praised Nadal's claycourt power.
"You just have to be focused every single point because you have a player on the other side of the net that doesn't really give you any points," said the Serbian.
"You could see him at 5-1 in the third set, he played like it's 5-all. He really doesn't care about the result. He just wants to give his best every single point. That's why he's very unique and that's why he's the best now."
Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis
Rafael Nadal
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