Non-tennis tributes to Rafael Nadal's career: Pau Gasol toasts his 'amigo,' while Rory McIlroy hails his 'hero'

In 2005, young Spaniard Rafael Nadal caught the tennis world by storm with a record-setting campaign. He started 2006 off looking to replicate that feat, which included a win over the man who stood in front of him in the rankings, Roger Federer, in the final in Dubai.

When the tour turned to clay, Nadal made his debut at the third Masters 1000 event of the year in Monte Carlo. There, he advanced to the final for the second year in a row.

Meeting him there would be Federer, who, after dropping a set to teenage qualifier Novak Djokovic in the first round, didn't lose another on his way to the championship match.

Facing each other in a final for the second time during the year, Nadal picked up right where he left off after Dubai, racing through the first set 6-2.

In the second set of the best-of-five encounter, the Spaniard appeared to have a strong foothold in the match as he broke Federer’s serve in the seventh game. However, Federer was able to recover to make it 5-5, then took the set in a tiebreak.

Despite dropping his second set of the tournament, Nadal quickly put that behind him to take the third 6-3. Over the course of the fourth set, neither player was able to break through and it eventually went to a tiebreak. Federer got the mini-break early to take a 3-0 lead, but Nadal rallied to deny the Swiss an opportunity to extend the match further as he took the tiebreak 7-5, giving him his first defense of a Masters title.

This was Nadal's third career Masters title on clay. Federer remained stuck at three as his record in Masters finals on the dirt dropped to 3-2.

Nadal's 14th career title put him within two of tying Bjorn Borg's record for tournaments won by a teenager.

Nadal's final-round victory was his 42nd win on a row on clay, putting him within 11 of Guillermo Vilas' streak on the surface.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

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