Rafael Nadal congratulates Novak Djokovic conqueror Davidovich Fokina for Monte Carlo run

Rafael Nadal has sent a message of congratulations to fellow Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after the world No 46 enjoyed a career-best week at the Monte Carlo Masters, beating world Novak Djokovic in the world No 1's opening match before reaching his first-ever final. The 22-year-old suffered a straight-sets defeat to defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday's final, as the Greek won the title for a second consecutive year.

Nadal has shared an Instagram post paying tribute to his young compatriot after his successful week at the Monte Carlo Masters. Davidovich Fokina started his week in the principality by defeating top seed Djokovic in what was the Serb's first match since February, producing a stunning 6-3 6-7(5) 6-1 upset win.

His dream week continued as he overcame recent Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz and former top-ten players Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin to make his first-ever career final against defending champion Tsitsipas. It wasn't to be for the world No 46, who ended up losing 6-3 7-6(3) but he kept himself in it until the end, breaking the world No 5 when he first served for the title at 6-3 5-4.

The 21-time Major champion has now congratulated Davidovich Fokina for his remarkable run, sharing a photo of the Monte Carlo runner-up alongside champion Tsitsipas as he wrote: "Congratulations to @aledavidovichoffocial for the final on #MonteCarlo Great week!!!!" adding several applauding emojis. The world No 4 also commended Tsitsipas, who became the first man since Nadal himself in 2006 to successfully defend his Monte Carlo title.

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Earlier in the week, Davidovich Fokina had admitted he was taking inspiration