Djokovic downs Berdych

Novak Djokovic was pushed to his limits against Tomas Berdych
(Getty)

The Monte Carlo Masters has the final every tournament wants. Rafael Nadal’s rivalry with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has become tennis’s pre-eminent soap opera, and today, on the clay courts of Monaco, it reaches its 31st instalment.
For Nadal – who has lost their last seven meetings and seen his overall lead eroded to 16-14 – defeat would be especially demoralising, because Monte Carlo has been his personal fiefdom for the past seven years. As for Djokovic, he will surely feel that if he can beat Nadal here, he can beat him anywhere.
Nadal had a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win yesterday over Gilles Simon of France in Saturday’s semi-final, so extending his sequence of victories in this tournament to 41. Djokovic was pushed a little harder by Tomas Berdych in the first match, losing the first set before speaking firmly to himself and coming through by a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 scoreline. (Telegraph.co.uk)