Federer confirms Monte Carlo 2014, enters as Wild Card

Not sure whats the reason behind Federer sudden acceptance as wild card in Monte Carlo, a tournament he traditionally skipped after being a losing finalist on 3 attempts to GOD of clay on his prime years.

Like I suspected that Nadal is not in the right frame of mind and looks mentally tired to defend all his clay points once again, Roger's team might have sensed it too and trying to make Hay while the sunshine I guess   .

There is also a word of mouth that Mirka is expecting another kid around July and hence he might skip some tournament like Rogers masters in Toronto [what a shame I get not to see him again   ] so decided to play more right now.

Another common sentiment among RF fans is that he is in a good nick and wants to capitalize on it so that he is a top 4 for FO and Wimbledon.

Whatever be the reason, RF in Monte Carlo is an awesome news, and I want him to be drawn on Rafa's half to see the most famous greatest yet one sided rivalry. 

Last but not least I am predicting him to win the tournament   

It looks like the baby is actually do sooner- around Madrid or Rome so I think he's trying to 1. get the points while he can, 2. get in at least 1 or 2 clay masters like he prefers before RG.

He usually likes this long training block after IW/Miami until Madrid and with DC and playing MC- he's not going to get it.. Remains to be seen if that is a good or bad thing.

I can't see him beating Nadal on the Monte Carlo clay at this point... Madrid was always his best shot because of the speed.

TRuffin wrote:

I can't see him beating Nadal on the Monte Carlo clay at this point...   Madrid was always his best shot because of the speed.

He can beat Rafa on Madrid provided its blue clay   , my assumption is Rafa will lose some point of time in Monte Carlo early, law of averages.  

invisiblecoolers wrote:

TRuffin wrote:

I can't see him beating Nadal on the Monte Carlo clay at this point...   Madrid was always his best shot because of the speed.

He can beat Rafa on Madrid provided its blue clay   , my assumption is Rafa will lose some point of time in Monte Carlo early, law of averages.  

Nadal may retire from Tennis and take up Golf before Federer beats him at Tennis @MC.  

laverfan wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

TRuffin wrote:

I can't see him beating Nadal on the Monte Carlo clay at this point...   Madrid was always his best shot because of the speed.

He can beat Rafa on Madrid provided its blue clay   , my assumption is Rafa will lose some point of time in Monte Carlo early, law of averages.  

Nadal may retire from Tennis and take up Golf before Federer beats him at Tennis @MC.  

Oh Nice Fed really do have a chance there   

On the otherside I heard Mirka is expecting Twins again   how far its true?    what is it with Federer and Twins? last time Twins brought him a lot of luck and he ended up making 4 GS finals with Twin triumphs in RG-Win, will the next set of twins bring him the same desired luck ?   

Great news for Monte Carlo with their line up this year, Djoko again too I think he missed it in previous years not last year obviously as he won it.

Federer is not going to win this though.

You're right HB, he will not win it - although I very much doubt even he would realistically give himself anything other than a very outside chance amidst such a strong field.

Rather he will see MC as a means of picking up some valuable ranking points after missing it last year, and of course as additional preparation for RG.

The wider picture is the Race to London. I'm pretty certain Federer considers qualification for a totally unique 13th successive appearance at WTF as one of his key objectives for the season overall. For as long as he continues to play on the tour, it will remain a matter of personal pride to qualify, with all that it says about consistency. If he can maintain his early-season form (and that's a big IF with the passing years) then he should make WTF more comfortably than last year.

Plus there is the DC of course, most likely the very last opportunity.

I would second guess his 2014 Slam targets as : QF at RG, a Final at Wimbledon and a QF or maybe SF at USO.

Which side of the draw do you think Federer will fall, and what side should be his preference?

Is Djoko more tougher to beat given his form or it is always Rafa the nightmare match-up for Fed?

I actually want Fed to be drawn in Rafa's half and some how make till the semi's to face his nightmare.  

Not sure he loses any sleep over draws these days, invisible. I think he IS still motivated - but at the same time relaxed and ready to take whatever cards are dealt.

He is now well into the twilight, his work on the court is pretty much done and anything else that may come his way is just a bonus.

As per my earlier post, I reckon he is very keen to
1. qualify for WTF
2. make the most of what could well be his very last DC opportunity
3. put up a respectable showing in the three Slams to come

lags72 wrote:Not sure he loses any sleep over draws these days, invisible. I think he IS still motivated - but at the same time relaxed and ready to take whatever cards are dealt.

He is now well into the twilight, his work on the court is pretty much done and anything else that may come his way is just a bonus.

As per my earlier post, I reckon he is very keen to
1. qualify for WTF
2. make the most of what could well be his very last DC opportunity
3. put up a respectable showing in the three Slams to come

This post made more sense and I completely agree with you here, he is more relaxed now and doesn't fear for any loss and ready to move on, he plays the game more like an exercise/workout to his body   .

The best part is even Fed fans are not worried about him losing to anybody and are relaxed to watch him as much as they can till the last swan song.   

What I see is Fed wanna give everything one big a shot before he calls off, its very likely he will call off by this WTF or next Wimbledon.   

The funny thing is how he skipped Monte Carlo in years when he was in the race for #1 and it could have made all the difference, or at least looked that way at the time.

About a year or two ago you could have picked the schedule of the big 4 yourself. There were never any surprises. It seems less predictable this year and last.

Djokovic and federer in the same side of the draw. Tricky route for Novak as also on his side are berdych, tsonga, monfils, gulbis, Anderson. A lot of tricky players.

Nadal has ferrer, dimitrov, wawrinka on his side

Tough draw for Novak but he got an easier one at IW, so swings and roundabouts.

I'd like Novak to win at least one of MC, Madrid or Rome, ideally beating Rafa to do so. That would make things interesting for RG.

Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

HM Murdoch wrote:
Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

Thats the feeling I have too and have been advocating that thoughts in v2 forum for quite a while.  

invisiblecoolers wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:
Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

Thats the feeling I have too and have been advocating that thoughts in v2 forum for quite a while.  

I know people who have been advocating that view for 9 years  

There is a smiley at the end of my previous post.  Am I the only one who does not see it? (nevermind, I see it now - it just takes forever to pop up on my computer for some reason).

summerblues wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:
Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

Thats the feeling I have too and have been advocating that thoughts in v2 forum for quite a while.  

I know people who have been advocating that view for 9 years  

It could be put as blind obsession for some in the past, U will see whether its blind obsession for me or a great prediction.   

I wouldn't say Roger WON'T win Monte Carlo, it's too empiric a statement.

I WOULD say, he won't beat both Djokovic and Nadal to win the title. But upsets do occur, people do get sick and strange things happen all year long on the tour.

With a fit Nadal, I can't see anyone aside from Novak beating him, and I think Novak will be very focused and determined this year, so don't see a similar upset for him like last year.

Think it will be Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the semis, but not so sure about Stan.

Whatever, it will be interesting to see what happens in the first "big" tournament on clay, with the "BIG" players all playing - aside from Murray.

yloponom68 wrote:I wouldn't say Roger WON'T win Monte Carlo, it's too empiric a statement.

I WOULD say, he won't beat both Djokovic and Nadal to win the title. But upsets do occur, people do get sick and strange things happen all year long on the tour.

With a fit Nadal, I can't see anyone aside from Novak beating him, and I think Novak will be very focused and determined this year, so don't see a similar upset for him like last year.

Think it will be Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the semis, but not so sure about Stan.

Whatever, it will be interesting to see what happens in the first "big" tournament on clay, with the "BIG" players all playing - aside from Murray.

Good post, agreed   

Murray anyways is a not a big player in clay, he has at times outperformed the expectations, otherwise he is a guy who could go down to player like Fognini consistently on clay.   

The others to watch are Ferrer, Verdasco , Almugro in clay, these guys have traditionally done very well on clay and can really spring a surprise if one of the big fish [barring Nadal] is slightly off on the given day.

Looks like so far so good on all my predictions   

.I predicted Rafa to be downed in earlier rounds -- Happened
.I predicted Djoko to not defend Monte Carlo - Happened
.I predicted Fed to win Monte Carlo - Awaiting Results.

The only thing I failed to predict is Ferrer downing Rafa, I thought it would be Stan Wawrinka, what ever Monte Carlo stood with the theme of 2014, another tournament full of upsets.

invisiblecoolers wrote:Looks like so far so good on all my predictions   

.I predicted Rafa to be downed in earlier rounds -- Happened
.I predicted Djoko to not defend Monte Carlo - Happened
.I predicted Fed to win Monte Carlo - Awaiting Results.

Indeed.  Those were some impressive calls.  I never thought your Rafa prediction would be right, nor that your Fed prediction had a realistic chance of being correct.

Now, can you please also predict Roger to win RG please?

Call me a pedant if you will, but Djokovic DID 'defend' Monte Carlo. But not successfully .......

That aside, some impressive predictions there invisible !  

It's been something of an unusual early season so far. But none the worse for that, I'd say ......

invisiblecoolers wrote:Not sure whats the reason behind Federer sudden acceptance as wild card in Monte Carlo, a tournament he traditionally skipped after being a losing finalist on 3 attempts to GOD of clay on his prime years......

Last but not least I am predicting him to win the tournament   

Close but no cigar.

Henman Bill wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:Not sure whats the reason behind Federer sudden acceptance as wild card in Monte Carlo, a tournament he traditionally skipped after being a losing finalist on 3 attempts to GOD of clay on his prime years......

Last but not least I am predicting him to win the tournament   

Close but no cigar.

Yup a little blip in the end,    but happy for a Stan win anyways. 

Hell with Federer spoiled my otherwise 100% prediction for the tournament.

Lags72 -glad you've highlighted this "defence" nonsense. Defending a title means being able to play the following year. Hewitt defended his title at Wimbledon in 2003 even though he lost to Karlovic in the first round.
If he'd won the championship he'd have SUCCESSFULLY defended his title. It's only if he'd been unable to turn up that he would have been deemed to have been "unable to defend his title".

Nice and clear   

sirfredperry wrote:Lags72 -glad you've highlighted this "defence" nonsense.

Next time moron give respect and take it back   

When I meant Djoko didn't defend the title it was easily understandable that I meant Djoko didn't defend the title successfully, I don't need to spoon feed kid level brains like you. However on the other hand Lags correction was acceptable coz he put forward in a very decent way.

invisiblecoolers wrote:

summerblues wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:
Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

Thats the feeling I have too and have been advocating that thoughts in v2 forum for quite a while.  

I know people who have been advocating that view for 9 years  

It could be put as blind obsession for some in the past, U will see whether its blind obsession for me or a great prediction.   

Very impressive IC.  Very impressive indeed.

summerblues wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

summerblues wrote:

invisiblecoolers wrote:

HM Murdoch wrote:
Instinctively I feel like Rafa won't sweep the board this year. But when I try to work out exactly who might beat him, it's not a long list!

Thats the feeling I have too and have been advocating that thoughts in v2 forum for quite a while.  

I know people who have been advocating that view for 9 years  

It could be put as blind obsession for some in the past, U will see whether its blind obsession for me or a great prediction.   

Very impressive IC.  Very impressive indeed.

I have to back it up too, how to hell you got Rafa's clay prediction right so far? Rafa losing to Almagro, Almagro cannot even do it on his dreams on his best days.