"So that's how we distract Rafa on clay" - Medvedev, Djokovic react to bird delaying Nadal's match at Monte-Carlo 2017
A pigeon interrupting Rafael Nadal's opening match at the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters seems to have given Daniil Medvedev clarity as to how he can disrupt the Spaniard's rhythm on clay.
While Nadal is hailed as the greatest claycourt player in tennis history with a record 63 singles titles on clay, Medvedev is yet to win any on the red dirt.
Monte-Carlo Masters recently shared a video on its social media that shows some of the top seeds participating in a game called 'What Happened Next?'. The game requires players to pause old videos midway and guess what could have happened afterwards.
A video of Nadal from the 2017 edition was shown to Medvedev, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Holger Rune, and Cameron Norrie before they started speculating.
Medvedev: Rafa is getting ready to serve. Something happened. What could it be?
Murray: Something knocked his bottles down?
Rune: Somebody spilled a glass or something?
Norrie: Not sure what happens here.
Djokovic: Maybe one of the chairs fell down on the court or one of the ball kids tripped or I don't know. Let's see.
None of their guesses were right, as a pigeon sitting atop the net had forced the play to stop. The Spaniard was about to serve at 4-3, 40-30 against Kyle Edmund in the third set when the bird managed to hog the limelight for over a minute. It comfortably sat on top of the net for a while before flying to the stands, but returned to the court once again.
While everyone got a laugh out of the moment as a ball kid tried to shoo the bird away, Nadal seemed annoyed. He ended up winning the second-round match 6-0, 5-7, 6-3.
Djokovic and Medvedev were amused to find out what had happened, with the latter joking that he would get a few pigeons to distract Nadal if they ever met on clay.
Djokovic: Oh no, the pigeon.
Medvedev: Oh! Yeah, I didn' expect that pigeon there, that's for sure. So that's how we distract Rafa on clay. Okay. I will know. I'll get some pigeons.
Rafael Nadal won his 10th Monte-Carlo Masters title in 2017
At the 2017 Monte-Carlo Masters, Rafael Nadal defended his title to triumph at the tournament for a record tenth time. After ousting Daniel Evans and Kyle Edmund in the opening rounds, the fourth seed then beat Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-1 and Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4.
David Goffin, who stopped Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, faced a straight-sets defeat against the Spaniard in the semifinals. The title clash saw the 22-time Grand Slam champion comprehensively defeat compatriot Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-1, 6-3 to emerge victorious.
Nadal went on to defend his title once again in 2018, winning the championship for the 11th time.