World No.1 Rafael Nadal will begin defending his Madrid Open title on Wednesday in the second round match against Gael Monfils. The French player defeated qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili in his opening-round match on Monday night, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Date: May 9, 2018
Match time: Rafa is third match on Manolo Santana Court. Not before 4 PM local time / 10 AM EDT – New York, Montreal / 3 PM BST – United Kingdom / 4 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / midnight AEST – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
These two have played 15 times and Rafa has won 13 of those meetings. The most recent match was in the 2017 Australian Open, a match our champ won in four sets. Monfils’ last win over Rafa came in Doha on 2012. Rafa is 5-0 against Monfils on clay court.
| Year | Event | Surface | RND | Winner | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2016 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Monte Carlo Monaco |
Outdoor Clay | F | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2015 | Stuttgart Germany |
Outdoor Grass | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2014 | Australian Open Australia |
Outdoor Hard | R32 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2014 | Doha Qatar |
Outdoor Hard | F | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2012 | Doha Qatar |
Outdoor Hard | SF | Gael Monfils | |
| 2011 | Barcelona Spain |
Outdoor Clay | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2010 | Tokyo Japan |
Indoor Hard | F | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2010 | ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid Spain |
Outdoor Clay | QF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2009 | US Open NY, U.S.A. |
Outdoor Hard | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2009 | Rotterdam Netherlands |
Indoor Hard | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2009 | Doha Qatar |
Outdoor Hard | QF | Gael Monfils | |
| 2008 | ATP Masters Series Paris France |
Indoor Hard | R16 | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2006 | ATP Masters Series Rome Italy |
Outdoor Clay | SF | Rafael Nadal | |
| 2005 | ATP Masters Series Monte Carlo Monaco |
Outdoor Clay | R64 | Rafael Nadal |
Rafa has won 19 matches and 46 sets in a row on clay, including his 10th Roland Garros, 11th Monte-Carlo and 11th Barcelona titles. His 46-set streak is an Open Era record on clay and three sets shy of the mark on any surface, set by John McEnroe on carpet in 1984.
Our champ is 401-35 on clay with an ATP World Tour-best winning rate of 0.920. Since Madrid moved to clay in 2009, Rafa is 34-5 at Caja Mágica (0.872). He’s won five Madrid titles overall, including his only indoor hard-court championship in 2005.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Source: ATP World Tour
Margo, Regarding your comment hoping Monfils will not tire Rafa out , I worry more about Rafa tiring himself out with excessive practice routines.
I am sure he will be on the court practicing for to-morrow’s match for a far longer time than it took him to win today.
He is a perfectionist and will always look for the next level.
Although I admire his attitude I am forever expecting all that restless energy to lead to further injury. Hopefully Moya is still trying to keep him under control.!!
Hi Beverley, you do have ESP.
Earlier I was thinking the same thing re practice after his match today. But what came to mind was Simona Halep’s statement about arriving five days prior to the start of the tournament because of Madrid’s unique challenges.
Please keep in mind that Rafa had a very easy win today so I think a good practice session could help him in future matches at Madrid. Please don’t worry, I think this time we can allow him some practice. And you know my feelings align with yours re over practicing. It may even make him feel better as he has had such little court time so far this year, relatively speaking.
Four more to go.
RAFAMAZING ROCKS
Rafa has a chance to break ANOTHER record tomorrow. Go for it champ.
RAFAMAZING RULES
Sweet Rafa steamrolling his way through all opposition. Rafa’s scorelines are enough to make his opponents say “no mas Rafa”.
One down, four to go.
RAFAMAZING RULES
Wow – that was an impressive performance from Rafa. Fast and furious. Hoping the same for tomorrow.
Well done Rafa , there’s no stopping you, another trophy 🏆 is coming your way
Great first set Rafa, keep it up😂
OLA OLA OLA OLA & VAMOS SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY & LOTS OF FUN WITH YOUR BEAUTIFUL TENNIS!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) ; ) : ) IT WILL BE A GREAT MATCH FOR YOU SWEETHEART !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) ; ) : ) : ) 🙂 ENJOY THE BEAUTY OF MADRID & EVERYTHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) ; ) : ) : ) : ) WE LOVE YOU DEAR RAFA & SENDING LOTS OF LOVE& HAPPINESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) ; ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) : ) : ) KEEP SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I don’t believe it. Kyle Edmund, who is usually on the losing side, just beat Nole 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. One less worry for Rafa.
RAFA ROCKS
Good luck Rafa, and we’ll done Karl Edmund’s for winning against Novak😀
And the best umpire for this match. A good omen i hope.
Hi Maria – our Kyle is doing well. Not really surprised though as he did get to the austrailian open semi finals in January. And a great result for him today too. Hope he keeps it up – unless he meets rafa of course.
VAMOS RAFA
Rafa all the best for the commencement of the tournament today.
Love and prayers,
AlaineXX
Stefanos Tsitsipas is out of Madrid, lost in the R of 64. Not surprising as he has been playing non-stop. I hope he rests so as not to cause his young body to retaliate. Rushing to raise his ranking will not do him any good. Looking forward to watch him playing in many more tournaments.
RAFAMAZING is RAFABULOUS
Good luck Rafa the king of Clay vamossssssssssss champ 🎾🎾🎾👍❤️🏸🎾
See Rafa’s potential route to the final: Carreño-Busta and Dimitrov are out.
RAFA ROCKS
Good luck Rafa 🍀❤️🤗
VAMOOS CHAMP #🥇! 🎾💪🏼😃😘
Good luck and Vamos Rafa <3
Best of luck tomorrow Rafa. Send Monfils back to France. Let the wind, altitude, and balls be on your side.
RAFAMAZING RULES
RAFAMAZING T𗀠TALLY RULES❣️
He sure does. I expect Rafa to win, I just don’t want Monfils tiring him out.
RAFAMAZING RULES
I do too, Margo – Fingers crossed 🤞🏻😊🍀
Me … fingers, toes, arms, legs…LOL
RAFA ROCKS
LOL 😂😃👍🏻
Great match – Rafa rules the court 🎾💪🏼😍☀️
VAMOS CHAMP #🥇! 👏🏻😘🍀