Montreal Masters Review : Nadal claims his 25th Masters 1000 title.

People said he can only perform in clay. People said his career is finished. But Rafael Nadal does not give a damn as to what people had to say about him, as he cruised his way to win his 25th masters title, and third rogers cup title.

One of the oldest tournaments barring the grandslams, Rogers cup is alternatively held at Toronto and Montreal. This year’s cup, held at Montreal, had several surprises waiting.

First of all, Roger Federer withdrew from playing, which was a huge disappointment to his fans. Moreover, this will definitely do no good to his rankings, as he is just a few hundred points above Tomas Berdych.

Though the likes of Djokovic and Nadal cruised along, seeds fell apart in initial rounds. The biggest victim was the wimbledon champion Andy Murray, who fell to unseeded Gulbis in 2nd round.

The Canadian duo Raonic and Pospisil had a dream run throughout the tournament. While Raonic’s draw was somewhat easier after the elimination of Murray, Pospisil had to overcome 5th seeded Berdych in pre-quaters, and luckily got an injured Davydenko in the quaterfinals.

The semi-final draw was

Djokovic vs Nadal
Pospisil vs Raonic

On one side, there was a Canadian finalist ensured, but on the other semi final, it was the clash of the titans. And it did turn out to be a gruelling match indeed!

The first (and the lesser awaited) semi’s was a close match, with Raonic overcoming wild card Pospisil in 3 sets, with the third set being a tie-breaker.

The Rafa-Djokovic match was both high in tennis and action. With a shot from Nadal hitting Djokovic’s head, and Djokovic definitely not acknowledging Nadal’s apology, definitely things did get heated up during the match. Finally Nadal came victorious in the 3rd set tie-breaker, setting up a final against the home-favourite Raonic.

Though the home-crowd would have looked for a close match( if not a victory) from Raonic, Rafa was definitely not in mood to compromise, as he trashed Raonic 6-2 6-2 to win his 25th masters, also his 3rd Canadian title.

Rafa created quite a few records in the process. First of all, he is the first tennis player to win 25 masters 1000 tournaments. Also, he is the first person to win atleast 3 masters titles at 5 different venues. He is unbeaten in hard courts this year, with an overall record of 48-3.

Though he had a bad wimbledon, that was definitely one off-day. Rafa will definitely be one of the favourites for the upcoming Cincinatti and also, the US open.