Tennis

It was expected that the king of clay may prevail again, but the one-sided story of just 1.19 hours is not anticipated at all.

Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters for an eighth consecutive year with a comprehensive 6-3 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic.

The 25-year-old is now unbeaten at Monaco in 42 matches. Nadal, who becomes the first player to win 20 Masters, did not drop a set this week in Monte Carlo.

After loosing his previous seven finals against the world No 1, Nadal was in control from the start. It is also Nadal's first title since his French Open triumph last year, making him the clear favorite to conquer Roland Garros again.

Djokovic won the first game of the match to love, but slowly lost control at the cliffside club on the shores of the Mediterranean.

From the moment Nadal broke him in the third game of the match, the result seemed one sided.

In contrast, Djokovic, who has lost his grandfather last Thursday, struggled to find a rhythm, making 25 unforced errors to just 11 winners.

Though there are not many changes to the current ATP rankings, Roger Federer is closing in on Rafael Nadal at the No. 2 spot.

Federer, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, is just 335 points away from Nadal, who holds second place with 9215 points in ranking, as of Monday.

Nadal is definitely in an advantageous position at the No. 2 spot, while fighting for his eight-straight Monte Carlo Masters title this week at Monaco.

Federer has withdrawn from the Monte Carlo tournament, as the Swiss star has taken a break from the game. He will return to action at the Mutua Madrid Masters next month at the Park Manzanara in Spain.

Nadal needs to win the championship this week to secure his No. 2 spot in the ATP rankings. The journey will not be easy for the Spaniard, as he is bothered by knee ailments.

Nadal, who has not won a tournament for 10 months and has lost to Novak Djokovic in seven successive finals said, "It's OK now, I need time to see how it is at the top level, to run without thinking about the knee, when I put all my pressure on the knee. It's the start of the clay-court season for me, and hopefully it will work well.

History will be made on July 14 when the two best tennis players in the world meet at one of the most renowned sports venues in Europe.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will square off on a tennis court at Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid, to raise funds for the Real Madrid Foundation and Rafa Nadal Foundation, both of which benefit disadvantaged children.

It will also celebrate the 110th anniversary of Los Blancos.

Organizers hope the event at the 80,000-seat stadium will break the world record for attendance for a tennis match set last year when 35,681 fans watched Serena Williams play Kim Clijsters in Brussels.

"The objective of this exhibition match is to set a spectator record for a game of tennis, exceeding 80,000," the nine-time European champions said on their Web site. 

Nadal, an ardent Madrid fan who tries to attend as many matches as possible, is thrilled to be taking part in the historic event.

On his Facebook page, Nadal posted: "Back to practicing, very happy because the Rafa Nadal Foundation's event has been confirmed at Bernabeu!"

Tennis, especially American tennis, is coming off a good weekend.

The U.S. Davis Cup team won 3-2 in Monte Carlo against France; Serena Williams defeated Lucie Safarova 6-0 6-1 at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. for her 40th title; and several tennis dignitaries were rolling Easter eggs on the White House Lawn.

What is the state of tennis?  

Less than an hour after the Family Circle Cup finals began Sunday, Serena Williams was a 6-0, 6-1 winner and dancing on Stadium Court to the strains of "Hey Ya!" by Outkast.

With an emphatic win over Lucie Safarova, Williams claimed her first clay-court title since she won the South Carolina tournament in 2008.

On what has long been her shakiest surface, Williams looked as solid as ever.

In winning her 40th WTA title in the Family Circle Cup, Williams put an exclamation point on a dominant week, and signaled that she will be a force during Grand Slam and Olympic events this summer.

Williams went through a representative Family Circle field this week like it was a bowl of her favorite banana pudding. Her victory over 26th-ranked Safarova was just as lopsided, if not quite as impressive, as Saturday's 6-1, 6-1 semifinal trouncing of No. 5 Samantha Stosur.

"I don't know what was going on with me the last two matches," Williams told the crowd after the match. "But I hope I can keep it up. I definitely want to continue this," said Williams who will move from 10 to nine when the new world rankings come out.