The Monte Carlo Thread

[HM Murdock]

First topic message reminder :

Round 2 and no thread yet?

Djokovic has just mauled Montanes 6-1 6-0. Tsonga also through.

[Josiah Maiestas]

It will boil down to the serve of Fed and the BH of Stan, if one goes below a certain standard the other guy will win. I'm glad there won't be any bad feelings about the winner though as I enjoy both of them, people thinking Stan will roll over are laughable   A man who reaches the final only thinks about winning it!

Let it be a classic   

[sirfredperry]

Jahu. It's some time since the seedings went 1, 3, 5, 7 etc and 2,4,6, 8. It's all on the draw these days, so number one could get 3 or 4, although never 2.
On some boards this has led to wild conspiracy theories about who got drawn with whom. Been less of that of late, as the top four guys have changed a bit after years of being the same

[lags72]

Disappointed to hear of Djokovic's troubles, but on the positive side he was very clear that no surgery is necessary, so it would seem that any damage will heal fully given rest & time. Let's hope he's back before too long.

Injuries are of course an inevitable part of the sport, but coming at this stage of the season will do little to help his quest to regain the top ranking spot from Rafa.

From a pure spectator perspective, I always like the big events to have the strongest possible field ; but with Andy's recent absence and now Novak out too, it might be a while before all the top guys are in the mix together on a regular basis.

[The Special Juan]

If Nadal is looking shoogly at the moment, Novak is injured and Murray may or may not ever regain full fitness, it's wide open for someone to make a charge for the big titles. It could be Federer, it could be someone like Stan or Berdych or it could be a younger player. This might be the most interesting season in 6-7 years. We've already had one new major winner, how about another?

[Jahu]

Come on Fed, who's the daddy?

[Henman Bill]

Last all Swiss ATP tour final? Anyone?

Is it Marseille 2000 - Federer v Rosset?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/news/2000/02/12/marseille_semis/

"the first all-Swiss final in ATP Tour history" (referring to Federer-Rosset). There is also an amusing reference to Federer scoring an "upset" victory against Fabrice Santoro in the semi final.

"Roger is the future of our country's tennis" says Rosset in the pre match build up. Although, in retrospect, he could even have dispensed with "our country's".

Rosset would win the match.

I can't think of another all-Swss final since then. I saw on the TV coverage that this is the first one at Masters 1000 though.

[Henman Bill]

Roger Federer's magic formula for winning important clay court tournaments.

1. Turn up year after year.
2. Wait for Rafa to be injured, low on confidence or suffer a shock defeat.
3. Win.

[Jahu]

Bit of a poor match this.

Fed broken, Stan 2:0 up.

[Jahu]

Stan loses break.

Somehow no rythm so far,  a good shot here and there,  but doesnt feel interesting.

[lags72]

Roger Federer's magic formula for winning important clay court tournaments.

1. Turn up year after year.
2. Wait for Rafa to be injured, low on confidence or suffer a shock defeat.
3. Win.

Well he certainly hasn't won yet. Stan has something to say here ......

As for the 'magical formula' ..... sounds good in principle, although doesn't look like Federer has been following your tip number 1, given just how often he has skipped Monte Carlo over the years.

That apart, the best thing about the formula is that the corollary can be helpfully used by anyone not actually winning a Slam title. I suggest it goes something like this ......

Interviewer asks any of the 127 entrants why they did not win the title. They can choose any one of three possible answers :

1. "I was injured"

2. "I was low on confidence"

and the best excuse of all .......

"I got beat before I could even get to the Final "

Sorted !

[Henman Bill]

Roger's last masters in Cincinatti 2012.

Roger's last clay Masters win Madrid 2012.

Roger's last orange clay Masters win Madrid 2009.

Roger's last slow, clay-non-Madrid Masters win Hamburg 2007.

Roger's last orange clay win of any sort FO 2009.

[Henman Bill]

Stan has three clay titles

Umag, Croatia 2006 (Djokovic retired)
Casablanca 2010 (vs Hanescu)
Estoril, Portugal 2013 (vs Ferrer)

[lags72]

Hmm...... strange indeed !

How come nobody else was good enough to win all those titles taken by Federer... ??

Anyway, now that the magical formula has been revealed, I expect to see a spate of new names (ie other than the usual Nadal, Federer, Djokovic & Murray) cleaning up in the Masters   

Or maybe not ........

[lags72]

Hoping Stan can take this into a third, and I think the momentum will then be with him.

Stan would be a very deserving MC Champ if he can pull it off

[Jahu]

Great TB by Stan.

Come on Fed, you know what to do now.

[kemet]

Great TB by Stan.

Come on Fed,  you know what to do now.

Seems like he did not get the memo...

[lags72]

Immediate break, there's the momentum from the TB.

Stan's title methinks ......

[Jahu]

Fed is gone.

Stan the new Master

[lags72]

Indeed.

But at least he really will be able to say I couldn't have lost to a nicer guy

Apparently they even hit together before the match itself.

[kemet]

Monte Carlo is simply going to be one of those tournaments that Roger will never win (along with Rome?).

Stan has clearly been the better player in the third set.

[lags72]

Bagel coming up ....?

How long ago did Federer last suffer one ....?

[Jahu]

Fed will get the revenge at FO final   

[Jahu]

Maybe a stick. 4:1

[Jahu]

Stan has a better wife too   

[kemet]

With his anaemic return game, I cannot see any way back from a double break for Federer.

Stan's groundstrokes are too decisive right now and he is in the zone.

Barring an amazing turnaround from Roger, congrats to Stan.

[Josiah Maiestas]

Backhand king steals the title.

I must say these 2 are either excellent or atrocious in this match   

[Jahu]

Well done Stan, killer shots.

Fed done ok as a warm up clay event.

[Silver]

Missed most of this week due to being away at a conference, but congrats to Stan! His first title at this level, fantastic. Nice for Federer as well, making another final this year, and another tight match at that.

If these two can keep up the form at Madrid and Rome, we could have a few more names in the hat for RG.

[lags72]

Who knows how many more titles Stan might have won if he had figured out Fed years ago .......   

Then again ....I might have got through the Wimbledon qualis if my game was up to it

Well played Stan   

[laverfan]

Congrats to Stan! Excellent win.

[kemet]

Roger was simply outplayed in the end.

Stan is a deserving winner.

[Henman Bill]

Well done to Stan, a great lesson he has been that it's never too late to better yourself. Take note the likes of Gasquet, Berdych, Tsonga, Monfils and Verdasco. A great season for him already with his first slam and first masters 1000. Also, he looks likely to be a genuine threat at the French Open. He probably does need to avoid a fully fit and focused Rafa to actually stand a chance of winning the title, but then, so does everyone except Novak. He's got to be the 3rd favourite at the moment.

As for Federer, alas this is just going to be one title he's never going to win, I'm sure he won't lose sleep on it.

I actually went for a short break at the start of the 3rd as I had to do something quickly and when I came back the match was done with an early double break! What happened there.

[lags72]

As Father Time continues to catch up with him, I think this could well be a familiar (albeit respectable) pattern for Federer during the year : ie, still progressing deep into many/most events but falling short when it comes to the crunch.

But he can be happy with making another Final - and not least the fact that as one of the very oldest players on Tour he still enjoys the best W/L match ratio of all in the season to date.

[TRuffin]

As Father Time continues to catch up with him, I think this could well be a familiar (albeit respectable) pattern for Federer during the year : ie, still progressing deep into many/most events but falling short when it comes to the crunch.

But he can be happy with making another Final - and not least the fact that as one of the very oldest players on Tour he still enjoys the best W/L match ratio of all in the season to date.

A couple of quote from Federer the past week- kind of make me think he's starting to lean mentaly this way... Very unlike him to say that "if I play Djokovic the match is on his racquet" and last night "I'm playing well so I think I have an OUTSIDE chance at the French Open" Federer is confident right now in his level, but these aren't the words that you usually hear from Federer when he is confident. It may be that he knows at the tail end of the tournaments now, the back and legs just aren't there, no matter how well he can and is playing.

I don't know if Finals make him happy at this point in his career. He seems happy with this past week, but eventually- it wears mentally at an athlete when he keeps coming in 2nd.

[Josiah Maiestas]

He lost because he waited for Stans errors. He generally does the same when facing Nadal, only against Novak and Murray does he find his A game. The result is best for tennis though because it confirms how good Stan is now, so soon after his slam.

See what they can do at Madrid   

[Henman Bill]

Federer judging by those comments has changed from slightly overconfident in his own abilities to fully realistic.

Slightly overconfident may be a good thing though in terms of getting results.

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