Rafael Nadal's Supremacy on Clay Continues

Rafael Nadal claimed his fifth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title yesterday, after clinching a hard-fought, three-set victory against No. 3 Novak Djokovic 6-3 2-6 6-1, in the final.

Djokovic played some of his best tennis for large parts of the match, and certainly had his best performance on clay.

He was extremely competitive for large parts of the match, but like everybody else that has faced Nadal before him, he was not able to crack the seemingly impossible code to derail Nadal on a clay court.

Nadal had to dig deep as he lost the second set handily, 6-2, and when he faced three break points in the first game of the third and final set, it seemed as though Djokovic might just have been on his way to pulling off what would have been an incredible upset.

But Nadal rebounded, as he so often does, found an extra gear, and held that game, which lasted over 13 minutes. After that, Djokovic only won one more game.

The problem for all players facing Nadal is that, on all surfaces (particularly clay), the man never knows when he is beaten. Nadal is both mentally and physically the strongest player that I have ever seen.

Last year, Nadal managed to come back from 4-1 and 5-1 down in sets against Roger Federer in the finals of the Monte Carlo and Hamburg Masters, respectively. Nadal would go onto win both title matches.

Federer was World No. 1 at the time, and if a 5-1 lead is not enough for the best player in the world to seal a set, then frankly, no one else has much chance to even be competitive.

Nadal's movement is exceptional, and is almost superhuman at times. Even at full stretch on the clay, he is capable of hitting winners in situations where everyone else would be happy just to be able to keep the ball in play.

This ability to move and read the game so well is what keeps Nadal constantly involved in a match on clay, regardless of the score.

Nadal is arguably the fittest man to ever play the sport. His reservoirs of strength and energy are such that he is prepared to battle relentlessly for every point of every match that he plays, no matter how long it takes.

This must be a daunting prospect for all his opponents

British No. 1 Andy Murray battled hard in his semifinal against Nadal in Monte Carlo, and he  managed to take the world's top player to a tie-break in the second set, but went on to lose it and the match in straight sets.

Murray played some of his best tennis to force that match to a tie-break, yet the moment Nadal felt he was tested, he found his other gear and cemented his place in the final.

Murray later said that, in his opinion, Nadal is the greatest player ever on clay, and that it's hard enough to compete with Nadal for one set on clay, but to do it over a sustained period is so difficult.

Nadal has never been taken to five sets at the French Open in his career. Indeed Rafa has never lost a match at Rolands Garros since his debut, and barring injury to the World No. 1, expect both trends to continue at the 2009 French Open.