I am one of Rafael Nadal's best friends & I wanted to kill him: Monaco recalls 2007 meeting with Nadal

Rafael Nadal has spent almost half of his life on the men's tour. And in the process of amassing 19 Grand Slams and 35 Masters 1000 titles, he was bound to make many friendships along the way.

Recently, Argentine former tennis player Juan Monaco revealed the extent of his friendship with the Spaniard and how it has developed over the years - from being friends as juniors to being opponents on court.

In words reported by ATP.com, the Argentine reminisced about various meetings on tour with Rafael Nadal and how they led to strengthening their friendship. In particular, Monaco talked about their memorable first meeting in the 2005 Swedish Open.

"He (Rafael Nadal) came from winning Roland Garros (into Bastad)," said Monaco. "I was waiting for the tournament to end, and we went to Spain to his house. And there we were for a week. We went together to his house."

Rafael Nadal prevailed in a straight sets win that day, easily dismantling the Argentine 6-1 6-1. Aboout the match, Monaco said:

"In Bastad he beat me very hard. He was already at a superlative level, that is where the streak of more than 80 games starts without losing on clay."

During the course of the interaction, Monaco claimed that he knew Rafael Nadal was destined for great things all the way back in 2005.

"He was already one of my best friends and I saw that he was already on his way to being too big. If at 19 years old I had already won in Paris it was because I was going to be a beast," asserted Monaco.

I knew I would have a higher chance of beating Rafael Nadal on quicker surfaces: Monaco

Rafael Nadal (L) and Juan Monaco

Monaco also spoke about how he knew Rafael Nadal from their days playing in the juniors and in small non-professional tournaments.

"I played interclubs against Rafa," Monaco said. "He played for Barcelona and I played for my club. We knew each other from there, from the age of 16. From there we already had friendship."

"We met in 2000, 2001 I would tell you. We played a doubles against (each other). I played with a Japanese friend and he with Tomeu Salva, in Mallorca. Rafa would be 14 years old. I was 16."

Over the course of his career, Monaco managed to defeat Rafael Nadal just once - at Cincinnati 2007, when the Spaniard had to retire due to injury. The scoreboard that day read 7-6 4-1 (RET) in Monaco's favour.

Despite their friendship, the Argentine wasn't happy that there was an asterisk attached to his win. He believed Nadal should have completed the match, but later realized that the Spaniard wasn't feeling well from the start.

"I wanted to kill him," Monaco reminisced. "I was really angry because he didn't want to finish. I was going set and double break up, and he retired. I was happy because I had won the game, but… what does it cost this guy to play one more game?"

Monaco then added that he knew hardcourts and indoor tournaments were his best chance to beat Rafael Nadal. The conditions in Cincinnati were pretty quick too, which helped him defeat the Spaniard that day.

"That was the only time we played on a fast surface. But internally I knew that I would have more possibilities in cement and indoor," said the Argentine. "That day we played at noon at 35 degrees, it was brutally hot. I win the first set, and in the second when I break it, I already saw that it was not right."

"And since I know him a lot, I used to say: this one is running out of energy. And well, I proposed a fairly physical match, and he started to tire more and more and I remember that in the 4-1 change he called the doctor and he couldn't take it anymore," Monaco went on. "I'm one of his best friends and I wanted to kill him."