MONACO (AP) — Novak Djokovic looks to continue his recent dominance over archrival Rafael Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he beat the Spaniard in the final last year, and boost his confidence heading into the French Open.
The French Open remains the only major that six-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has not won. The Serbian player narrowly lost to Nadal in a dramatic semifinal last year at Roland Garros, where a clumsy error at the net late in the fifth set curtailed his comeback, and then Nadal beat him in their next two meetings.
The top-ranked Nadal’s last win against No. 2-ranked Djokovic was in the U.S. Open final, but since then Nadal has lost three consecutive matches to his great rival in straight sets. Nadal leads him 22-18 on head-to-heads.
