David Ferrer shocks the tennis world by defeating Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo quarterfinal

David Ferrer

In a shocking result, David Ferrer has upset World No. 1 Rafael Nadal 7-6(1), 6-4 in the quarterfinal of the Monte Carlo Masters to register his first win over his countryman on clay in 10 years.

Ferrer looked to take the game to Nadal from the start, keeping the ball close to the lines and outrunning the 8-time Monte Carlo champion on the baseline. The two exchanged a couple of breaks in the first set, and Nadal had to survive a few nervy moments towards the end as he had to serve to stay in the set twice.

But he managed to hold serve each time, and the players went to a tiebreaker. Ferrer completely controlled the breaker though, giving up just one point to pocket the set that took well over an hour.

Ferrer once again looked to go on the offensive in the second set, and broke serve twice to get a stranglehold on the proceedings. He served out the match at 30, handing Nadal only his third career loss at the venue.

This is the first time in a decade that Nadal has failed to reach the Monte Carlo final – the last time that happened was in 2004.