Bagels and domination - Rafael Nadal's most impressive Monte Carlo victories

Rafael Nadal has been the authoritative figure at the Monte Carlo Masters, winning the first title in 2005 and adding ten more for complete domination over the rest of the field.

The Spaniard has won 71 out of 76 matches in the Principality, losing ground a bit in 2014 and 2015 but returning stronger and lifting more trophies at one of his favorite events. Rafa made a Monte Carlo debut in 2003 at 16, reaching the third round and losing to Guillermo Coria. Two years later, the youngster would beat the Argentine in the title match for his first Masters 1000 crown, conquering eight in a row by 2012 to enter the record books! Novak Djokovic halted Rafa in the title match in 2013, and Rafa had to wait for 2016 to get back on the winning way.

Nadal has produced some of his finest victories at his beloved event, overpowering the opponents on both serve and return to present 11 bagels and no less than 35 6-1 sets! In ten Monte Carlo matches, Nadal claimed at least 66% of the points and delivered the level that left his rivals far behind. However, other similar triumphs against the top-ranked players took him a bit longer to complete or kept him at around 65% of the points won.

In his first Monte Carlo match in 2003, Nadal toppled Karol Kucera 6-1, 6-2 in 63 minutes, never losing serve and earning four breaks for an impressive debut. Two years later, the young Spaniard earned three remarkable wins en route to the title, beating Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus and the Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio in style.

Rafa faced only a couple of break chances in all three encounters, losing serve once versus Rochus and outplaying all the opponents on the return to sail into the semis. In 2007, Kristof Vliegen fell 6-1, 6-1, in Nadal's first Monte Carlo triumph with over 70% of the points won. The Spaniard repeated that against Thiemo de Bakker and Michael Berrer in 2010, his most dominant year in the Principality that saw him losing only 14 games in ten sets, including one against Fernando Verdasco in the final!

In 2012 and 2013, Mikhail Kukushkin and Marinko Matosevic couldn't do much against the mighty Nadal, taking five games in four sets and propelling the clay king through. Rafa's last dominant victory with 66% or more points won came against no other than Dominic Thiem in 2018. The Spaniard destroyed the Austrian 6-0, 6-2 in 68 minutes, dropping six (!!) points behind the initial shot and stealing Dominic's serve five times to march into the semis.

Thiem was the only player who defeated Rafa on clay in 2017 when he ousted him in the quarter-final of Rome, with Nadal restoring the order in the semi-final at Roland Garros a few weeks later. The Spaniard lost only seven games in that one and continued in the same style in Monte Carlo 2018, giving away two games in the last three sets played against the Austrian! Tired, slow and unsettled, Thiem served at 41%, and his service games turned into a nightmare, losing almost 60% of the points and facing 12 break chances for constant pressure.