Rafael Nadal made history at the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters, becoming the first man in the Open Era to win a tournament 10 times. The Spaniard has gone on to repeat that feat at two more events since then, lifting the title on at least 10 occasions at the Barcelona Open and Roland Garros.
In addition to witnessing the Mallorcan's dominance, the 2017 edition also marked the sight of a rather peculiar incident involving him. During his second-round encounter against Kyle Edmund, the former World No. 1 was greeted by an unexpected visitor in the form of a dove.
After bageling Edmund in the first set, the World No. 4 lost the second 5-7 in unexpected fashion. With everything to play for in the third set, the 21-time Grand Slam champion was cruising along nicely with a 4-3 lead when the bird interrupted play.
The bird first took up position on the net, and although it flew to the stands after a ball kid shooed it away, it came back to the center of the court to disrupt proceedings more concretely. Further attempts from the ball kid proved unsuccessful as the dove continued to hop around the court unbothered by the tennis match going on.
After more than a minute of the same, with Rafael Nadal looking slightly annoyed and trying his best not to lose focus all the while, the bird finally exited the court and settled in the stands.
Thankfully, the 35-year-old made quick work of the rest of the match when the action resumed, breaking the Brit's final serve to wrap up the set 6-3.
Rafael Nadal defeated David Goffin, Albert Ramos Vinolas in the quarter & semifinal to win the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters
After defeating Kyle Edmund in the second round, Rafael Nadal squared off against 14th seed Alexander Zverev. After packing off the German 6-1, 6-1, the fourth seed vanquished Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4 to book his spot in the semifinals.
10th seed David Goffin did not offer much resistance either, capitulating to a 6-3, 6-1 loss. In the other semifinal, Albert Ramos Vinolas defeated Lucas Pouile to set up a meeting with his compatriot but succumbed to a straight-sets 6-1, 6-3 defeat against the more experienced Spaniard in the final.
In addition to being his 10th title at Monte-Carlo, the title run also marked the 21-time Grand Slam champion's record 50th title on clay. Since then, the former World No. 1 has added 12 more to his tally for a total haul of 62 claycourt championships till date.
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