It was close for a few games, then not so much.  In their past matches, Djokovic has often stayed toe to toe with Nadal off the ground.  Today, not so much.  Nadal had chances in nearly every one of Djokovic’s serve to break.  Djokovic didn’t seem able to keep up in long rallies.  He went for bigger shots, but routinely missed them.  Meanwhile, Rafa played pretty good defense making Djokovic hitting many shots.

So the losing streak to Djokovic ends, but Nadal’s record at Monte Carlo is intact.

I think Djokovic will have a bit of soul-searching to do.  Certainly, he’s had a tough week emotionally, and he’ll take some time off to visit family, but he’ll have to work on getting his rhythm back.  The one positive?  It’s not Monte Carlo that Djokovic wants to win.

Surprisingly, this is Rafa’s first title since he won last year’s French Open.  Djokovic’s stranglehold in 2011 meant Nadal could never quite get to the finish line.