Vamos Rafa!!

Double joy for Rafa :

Rafael Nadal & Tommy Robredo

Rafael Nadal became just the second player in ATP Masters Series history (since 1990) to win both singles and doubles titles at the same event after he and Tommy Robredo defeated Mahesh Bhupathi & Mark Knowles 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles final.

In an intriguing battle between the power forehands of Nadal and Robredo and the fast and sure hands of doubles specialists Bhupathi and Knowles, raw power slowly but surely won the day. And when Bhupathi received treatment at 3-3 in the second set for a right groin injury that severely restricted his movement, it became certain that the Spaniards would march on to victory.

Nadal joins Jim Courier (1991 Indian Wells) as the only players to win both titles in an ATP Masters Series tournament (since 1990).

Nadal is the first player to win singles and doubles titles in the same tournament this year. (There were four last year.)

He is the first player to win both titles in Monte Carlo since Ilie Nastase in 1973.

Bhupathi and Knowles, who were contesting their fourth final in their past five tournaments, would have risen to first place in the Stanford ATP Doubles Race had they won their third title of the year. Instead they now sit just two points behind Race leaders Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, the Israeli Australian Open champions.

Robredo said: "I'm very happy about winning my first Masters Series doubles title. Winning it in Monte-Carlo and playing with Rafa makes it extra special because one of our goals is to compete in the Olympics and win a medal for our country, so this is the first step."-atptennis.com

Another victory for the Spaniard

MONTE CARLO: Rafael Nadal won an historic fourth successive Monte Carlo Masters title yesterday as he defeated world number one Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5 in the latest instalment of their epic rivalry.

The 21-year-old triple French Open champion came back from 0-4 down in the second set to achieve his third successive final victory over Federer in the principality and his 22nd win in a row in the tournament.

It was also his ninth win in 15 career meetings with the world's top player and his seventh in eight claycourt clashes.

The last man to win four Monte Carlo titles in a row was New Zealand's Anthony Wilding in 1914 but Nadal, who now has 24 career titles, is the first man to complete the feat in the Open era.

“It's hard to imagine winning this title for four years in a row,” said Nadal. “But Roger played a great match. We always have good finals.”

Federer, who was laid low by glandular fever earlier this year and lost his Australian Open title, was full of praise for his opponent.

“I have to congratulate Rafa. It seems to be the same thing every year here,” he said.

The top seed grabbed the break, and a 4-3 lead, when Nadal, off balance, could only send a lob long.

However, the 21-year-old Nadal again retrieved the break, helped by a fortunate net cord which wrong-footed the advancing Federer, to pull level at 4-4.

Nadal was now in the ascendancy and created two set points in the 12th game when Federer, who hit 20 unforced errors to 11 in the opener, unleashed a sloppy backhand.

The set was the Spaniard's after 51 minutes when he met a deep Federer volley with a sliced backhand of his own.

Federer, who had been within two points of a shock defeat in his opening match against another Spaniard, world number 137 Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, broke Nadal in the first game of the second set and backed it up with a hold to lead 2-0.

In a topsy-turvy final, the 12-time Grand Slam title winner broke again to lead 3-0, held for 4-0 but then allowed his opponent to hit back to 4-4 on the back of two breaks of his own.

Both men then held on but Federer cracked in the 12th game and handed Nadal the title with a loose backhand.

The statistics told a depressing tale for Federer in the 1 hour and 43 minutes final where he sent down 44 unforced errors to Nadal's 20. – AFP