Rafael Nadal- Getty Images

Monte-Carlo Kicks Off Clay Court Season

April 21, 2008

The clay court Masters Series events begin this week as the ATP’s top players convene in Monte-Carlo, Monaco for the first of three major tournaments in the next four weeks.

All the regular names will be in attendance as top-seed Roger Federer will look to carry over his success from the Estoril Open last week. Federer finally won his first title of the season in Portugal though he did not quite do it the way he would have wanted. Playing Sony Ericsson Open champion Nikolay Davydenko in the final, Federer was up a set but down a break in the second when Davydenko was forced to retire due to a muscle strain in his left leg. It can be argued that though his title drought is officially over, Federer has yet to win this season when he is competing against the Tour’s top player field. However, now that he has found his groove working with new coach Jose Higueras, Monte-Carlo will prove to be a real test for the world’s best. He awaits the winner of a first round match between Gilles Simon and Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal has a lot riding on this tournament as he has won the Monte-Carlo singles title the past three years. No one in the history of this event has been able to accomplish this feat for four consecutive years. However, if there is one man who can do it, it is the Spaniard. Nadal is a master on clay owning a 93-1 clay court record since 2005 with his only loss coming against Federer in 2007. His first opponent will be Croatian wildcard Mario Ancic.

The top five rounds out with Novak Djokovic, Davydenko and David Ferrer. Davydenko will be interesting to watch as he may still be feeling the effects of his injury in Portugal while Ferrer is coming in very confident after winning his first title of season in Valencia last week. Djokovic is the one player who is looking to rebound in Monte-Carlo as his last action was a first round defeat in Miami at the end of March. Djokovic is up against Ivan Ljubicic in his first match while both Davydenko and Ferrer are still waiting for their opponents to be determined in first round matches.

Notably absent from the draw is the American contingent as both Andy Roddick and James Blake have opted out of this tournament. Both are scheduled to play at the next Masters Series event in Rome beginning May 5, 2008.

The doubles draw also features all of the big guys with Bob and Mike Bryan occupying their regular top-seed position while Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich have taken over as No. 2 seeds. No. 3 seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic have a very tough first test as Nadal and Tommy Robredo have paired up to try and take the doubles crown. It would come as no surprise to anyone if Nadal was equally as dominant on clay in doubles as he is in singles.