The championship of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Sunday matches No. 5/eight-time champion Rafael Nadal against No. 13 seed Gael Monfils, who is the first Frenchman to reach the final here since Cedric Pioline won the title in 2000 (d. Hrbaty). Nadal is trying to capture his ninth Monte-Carlo crown and 28^th ATP Masters 1000 title in his 100^th career final.

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Nadal has an 11-2 career head-to-head record against Monfils, including 4-0 on clay (8-0 in sets). They first met here in the first round in 2005 and the Spaniard won 63 62 en route to his first of eight straight Monte-Carlo titles. Nadal also has won their two previous final meetings (’10 Tokyo, ’14 Doha). Their last meeting came in the semi-finals of Stuttgart last June and Nadal won 63 64 en route to the title.

Nadal is appearing in final for the 10^th time (8-1) since 2005 and he’s looking to capture his first title here since 2012 (d. Djokovic). He has a tournament-best 57-4 career record and he won eight straight titles from 2005 to 2012. His 46-match Monte-Carlo winning streak came to an end in the 2013 final (l. to Djokovic). The 29-year-old Spaniard is the sixth player in the Open Era to reach at least 100 career ATP World Tour level singles finals (67-32). This is his 42^nd final in an ATP Masters 1000 event (27-14) and his last Masters 1000 title came in Madrid in 2014 (d. Nishikori). He is second behind Novak Djokovic, who owns 28 ATP Masters 1000 titles. Nadal is appearing in his 56^th career clay court final (47-8 mark) and he’s trying to win an ATP World Tour European clay court title for the 13^th straight year (since 2004). His last title came in Hamburg on Aug. 2, 2015 (d. Fognini).

Monfils is the first double-digit seed to reach the Monte-Carlo final since No. 11 Nadal won the title in 2005. The last player outside the Top 10 to win an ATP Masters 1000 title was countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who was No. 15 when he captured the Toronto title in 2014. The 29-year-old Frenchman is making his third final showing in an ATP Masters 1000 event, having reached back-to-back finals in Paris-Bercy in 2009 (l. to Djokovic) and 2010 (l. to Soderling). Monfils has not dropped a set in five matches, holding serve 37 of 43 games, while leading the tournament in return games won (24 of 42, 57%). Monfils is trying to earn his sixth ATP World Tour title in 24^th final (5-18). He is 1-8 vs. Top 10 opponents in finals with his lone win over (9) Gasquet in 2014 Montpellier. He will break the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings if he wins the title.The last time he was in the Top 10 came on Nov. 7, 2011.

WHAT’S AT STAKE:     

Winner              € 717,315 and 1,000 Emirates ATP Rankings points

Runner-up         € 351,715 and 600 Emirates ATP Rankings points  

FINALS HISTORY:       

Nadal is bidding for a 28^th ATP Masters 1000 title (27-14) and 68^th career title (67-32 in finals)
Monfils is bidding for a 1^st ATP Masters 1000 title (0-2) and 6^th career title (5-18 in finals) 

ATP MASTERS 1000 TITLE LEADERS: Nadal is trying to win his 28^th career ATP Masters 1000 title and equal Novak Djokovic.  

NADAL IN MONTE-CARLO FINALS: This is the fifth time since 2008 Nadal came into Monte-Carlo without an ATP World Tour title for the season. In the previous four times (2008, 2010-11-12), he left Monte-Carlo with the title.

Rafael Nadal is through to his 100^th tour-level final after fighting from a set down to beat Andy Murray 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a thrilling contest on Saturday in the semi-finals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

When he faces Gael Monfils on Sunday, Nadal will challenge for his 68^th tour-level crown and ninth at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, where he won eight successive titles from 2005-12.

“I think I played a great second set in terms of mentality. In the third set, I played aggressive… It was a great match,” Nadal said. “It’s a very important week for me, being in a final here again in Monte-Carlo, winning against very tough opponents.”

The Spaniard is bidding to draw level with leader Novak Djokovic on 28 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles by claiming his first trophy at this level since 2014 Madrid, where he beat Kei Nishikori in the final.

After battling wins over Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Benoit Paire, the second-seeded Murray has improved throughout the week in Monte-Carlo and showed his best tennis as he dictated against Nadal in the first set. The Dunblane native did not hold back, and his aggression paid off as he broke Nadal to lead 4-2.

Murray squandered a 30/0 lead in the following game, but saved two break points with an ace and a forehand winner to stay in front, before breaking Nadal again to claim the opener.

Nadal looked set to mount a fightback as he broke Murray in the first game of the second set. But Murray continued to pummel away from the back of the court and was rewarded as he immediately levelled at 1-1. The Spaniard did not let slip a second break advantage though. After breaking Murray for a 4-3 lead, Nadal warmed to his task and rallied from 15/40 in the following game and went on to draw level.

It was all Nadal in the decider. The Spaniard was the one controlling the baseline exchanges and stepping in, taking advantage of a slight drop in Murray’s level. The Manacor native broke Murray in the first game of the third set and raced into a 5-2 lead. Murray made a last stand in an enthralling eighth game, saving four match points before creating two break chances. But Nadal stepped up to thwart Murray and converted his fifth match point in two hours and 44 minutes.

“The match overall was a pretty good match,” Murray said. “There were a few things I would have liked to have done differently out there. The third didn’t get off to the best start. Then obviously had a few opportunities in that last game to try to make it a bit more interesting, but couldn’t quite get the break.”

Nadal improved to a 57-4 record in Monte-Carlo as he reached the final for the 10^th time. From 2005, he won 46 straight matches here before losing to Djokovic in the 2013 final.

“I am what I am today. I’m in the final of Monte-Carlo. That’s great news,” Nadal said. “Rafael Nadal of 2016 will not be the same of 2009 or 2008 again. Every year is different. Every feeling is different.”

The Mallorcan is bidding to win his first ATP World Tour title since July 2015, when he captured the clay-court crown in Hamburg. He started his 2016 campaign with a runner-up showing in Doha (l. to Djokovic) and subsequently reached semi-finals in Buenos Aires (l. to Thiem), Rio de Janeiro (l. to Cuevas) and Indian Wells (l. to Djokovic).

The 28-year-old Murray was looking to reach the final at the Monte-Carlo Country Club for the first time, after losing to Nadal at the semi-final stage in 2009 and 2011. Murray made his clay-court breakthrough last season, winning his first two titles on the dirt in Munich (d. Kohlschreiber) and at the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where he beat Nadal.

“He’s one of the best, if not the best ever, on this surface,” Murray said. “At times today, he played very well. When he does, you can’t always decide the outcome. He played some good stuff today and deserved to win.”

Gael Monfils will face Rafael Nadal in the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters after dismissing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday in an all-French semi-final clash.

If he is to win his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, Monfils will need to overturn a 2-11 head-to-head record against Nadal. Nadal has won their past three meetings, with Monfils’ last victory over the Spaniard coming four years ago in the Doha semi-finals.

Monfils is through to his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, after runner-up showings in Paris in 2009 (l. to Djokovic) and 2010 (l. to Soderling), and has done so without dropping a set.

The 13^th seed carried his rich vein of form into the semi-finals and dominated the first set, allowing Tsonga just seven return points and breaking his countryman four times to seal the opener. Trailing 1-6, 1-4, Tsonga mounted a fightback, breaking Monfils to love to bring the score back to 3-4. But Monfils immediately reclaimed his lead with a break in the eighth game and served out victory in 70 minutes.

Tsonga had battled past Roger Federer in Friday’s quarter-finals and dropped to a 14-7 mark on the season. The 30-year-old Frenchman also fell in the Monte-Carlo semi-finals in 2013, losing out to Nadal on that occasion.

Monfils will contest his second ATP World Tour final of the season after finishing runner-up to Martin Klizan in Rotterdam. In a strong start to 2016, the right-hander also reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (l. to Raonic) and the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells (l. to Raonic) and Miami (l. to Nishikori). He has a 5-18 record in ATP World Tour finals.

Monfils will look to become the first French champion in Monte-Carlo since Cedric Pioline in 2000.