Monte Carlo

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Murray came thru an exhibition match with Fed on Monday but was still unsure if he would compete at Monte Carlo. He said afterwards that if he was not ready next week he would aim to play the week after that.
I'm tipping Rafa to have a good clay-court season and, of course, his big chance to gain points will come at RG. Twould be foolish to write off Djoko's chances. It would be nice to see del Po getting some more-favourable draws and getting his ranking up. Wonder if Fed will decide, after all, to fit at least one tournament in before RG. Can anyone see a player outside the big 4/5 making a move?

Djokovic still leads Rafa 30-29 in masters series (Federer 26, Murray 14).

Rafa with a chance to equal the record in this year's clay season.

Yes, so happy and so proud of Rafa for his achievements here. Finally he bites another trophy! Congrats to Rafa; and well done to ARV too for reaching a Masters final for the first time and reaching top 20 in the rankings.

I think most people are happy to witness Rafa's historical achievements here; we may never see or witness such achievements here again at MC for a long long time to come. I really treasure such a moment, and what more done by my fav player Rafa!

Congratulations to Nadal on MC #10!

Rafa has a good chance of finishing the year as number one. If he can win RG I would make him the favourite. Djokovic is too far behind to make up the difference and I don't expect Federer to continue his form of the early part of the year. Murray is not a real contender imo when the others are fit and playing reasonably well.

Federer may not be able to play enough to make number 1 if there's a clear second contender hoovering up pointd

Well played Rafael Nadal. If he remains injury free then there must be a chance he will remain undefeated over the clay season. Maybe one of the faster clay courts will trouble him. He has also mentioned he can't get his top spin to work as he likes in damp, cold, past sunset conditions.

Rafa is winning most of the shorter points, he doesn't need to grind these days; I think as long as he's playing more offensive tennis, and moving up into the court often, whether it is damp clay or dry clay, he can win.

Guest82 wrote:Ramos-Vinolas won the first set.  

Can't wait to watch him fold 1&1 against Rafa in the final tomorrow.

Wasn't far wrong!

The way this year is going, it's like it is 2007 not 2017! Unbelievable numbers from the oldies.

Much as it has been great to see a return to form from Fed and Nadal, I do hope the younger generation begin to show some real champion ability.

timex please wrote:The way this year is going, it's like it is 2007 not 2017!    

Not according to my knees after playing 4 sets of doubles!

timex please wrote:The way this year is going, it's like it is 2007 not 2017!  Unbelievable numbers from the oldies.

Much as it has been great to see a return to form from Fed and Nadal, I do hope the younger generation begin to show some real champion ability.  

They said yesterday that Albert Ramos-Vinolas has an overall losing record in his career and he's 30 odd. Hardly #nextgen.

I understand Djokovic and Murray are struggling, but it would be nice to see a Zverev or Kyrgios getting to finals. Even a Thiem or Pouille would be better.

Nadal can only beat what is in front of him, but his competition was spectacularly weak.

Well both Kygrios and AZverev did play Fedal tough, Kygrios vs Fed at Miami and AZverev vs Rafa at the AO. It's just that Fedal managed to fend off their challenges.

Even the not so young anymore Dimi or Kei or Goffin, they fought hard, but Dimi lost to Rafa at AO, Goffin lost to Rafa at MC, and Kei lost in five sets to Fed at the AO. So it's not that the youngsters aren't/weren't trying or fighting, it's just that Fedal are still so good and hard to beat.