Rafael Nadal opens up on ‘strange’ Novak Djokovic exit at Monte Carlo Masters
RAFAEL NADAL says it is “strange” to see Novak Djokovic crash out of the Monte Carlo Masters in the quarter-final stage.
Djokovic was taken the distance by NextGen star Daniil Medvedev yesterday as he crashed out of the tournament.
Later in the day, Nadal battled to victory against Guido Pella to book his place in the semi-finals.
Supporters are gutted that they will not get see a Djokovic vs Nadal final in Monaco.
And world No 2 Nadal was even surprised to see his biggest threat eliminated.
“Have been a good match,” Nadal said.
“Yeah, the match looks like it was gonna go for Novak in the third set, because winning that second set, tough one, looks like Daniil was a little bit more tired.
“It’s true that Novak, I think, played a bad game at 2-1, I think so.
“And then Daniil played well. He’s playing so well. He already won a lot of good matches in this event.
“Always, when Novak loses, it always seems strange because he’s super solid.
“But everybody is human, no? And every day you play against another opponent that wants to win, too. That’s how it works. This is sport.”
Although Nadal progressed to the last four in straight sets, it took him two hours and 20 minutes to defeat Pella.
But he was not worried about the difficulty he faced trying to break his opponent down.
“Tennis have these kind of things no? You need to accept every day the situation,” he added.
“Every day is a different day against a different opponent, different feelings. One day is windy; one day is not windy.
“One day you have better feelings; another day you have a little bit worse feelings. The important thing, at the end of the day, is accept everything.
“Knowing that anything can happen is easier to accept, and then just find a way to be through when the day is not perfect for you, because then you have another chance the next day.”