Monte Carlo
It’s that time of the year again where the tennis circus returns to Europe for the big clay events leading up to Roland Garros.
The lead up events well he Nico “Superstar” Almagro defending his title in Valencia and he played well at last years TMS events and in Barcelona losing to Nadal and Federer, while giving them something to think about. He is a very talented player and his nicknmane is “Mucho”, though this is for his ego as much as his talent.
Then clay god Ivo Karlovic winning his first ATP title and clay is a good surface for him as he can get even more bounce on his serve and he is fragile physically so it’s easier on his knees and he knows how to move on it.
Monte Carlo has been in the news lately as Mr. Disney is wanting to downgrade its TMS status, so he can give that event to his puppet master and mafia don Ion Tiriac in Madrid and there is a law suit more on that later.
As usual there are the American withdrawals from Monte Carlo, but lets be honest are they really missed? The answer to the question is far from it or as much as rancid meat left in the sun for about 3 weeks or as much as Gaudio, Puerta, Muster, Behrend are missed from Wimbledon.
This being said the overall depth of claycourt tennis isn’t very high at the moment (another entry there) and so time to preview the matches. Of course they are starting on a Sunday, which is as stupid as Mr. Disney reducing these finals to the best of 3 sets. It doesn’t matter James Blake you are still not winning one of these events.
There some intriguing 1st round matches like:
Moya vs. Youzhny: I think Charlie should be too strong here and he has won this event before and Youzhny doesn’t always adjust well to clay straight away and it’s on a TV court, so I could be fortunate to see some of this. Moya, I see getting some good wins , but for him to win another TMS event, he would need a few things in his favour.
Almagro vs. Berdych : This will be a match between two very likeable guys, well I don’t have a problem with Berdych except he is a tactical gnat and as for Almagro well I have spoken about him already.
There are a few variables here, it depends on how tired Almagro is from Valencia, though to be fair it looked like the Copa Empanada there, so he should be Ok. As for the Berdman it depends on which one shows up. He can play very well on clay, but like his poor loss to Roddick and losing to the Srich as well show he is just as capable as losing to anyone as well. I hope this one is on a TV court.
The other matches well Chucho Acasuso is back as well, but he always struggles first match back from a spell and hope his back is fine. Luckily for him he is playing Andreev who he hasn’t lost to in 3 matches and Igor hasn’t been winning matches since his Davis Cup heroics in Chile and Andreev needs a lot of matches before he gets into form, that’s the way he is.
Gaudio and Tursunov: Well, well, well there could be some comedy here for sure. Gaudio in such poor form, though he has Martin Jaite back in his career and he was with him when he showed his talents in 2002 when he went back to back in Barcelona and Mallorca. Tursunov is a bit of a clay clown and has wrist problems, so anything is possible here.
They have Safin/Nierminen as a 1st round match and then we have Lee in the 2nd round defeating clay giant Bjørkman and a match between Benji Becker and Thomas Johansson which will be a feast of clay court clownishness, but as we all know life isn’t always fair is it.
Blogger favourite and AC Milan fan Seppi made the main draw and while Seppi is mellow his opponent is the mad Georgian who plays for Russia and lives in Spain Gabashvili and that’s a contrast of temperament for sure. If Seppi keeps his errors down and breaks down the backhand then he can win this match and meet up with Federer.
Preview is over for now and please comment it makes me feel important and I will be talking about the matches I have seen in the comments section, it’s just easier that way and welcome back to the clay.
16 comments:
nice write up ;)
Gaudio looked good in the final set I saw against Tursunov, granted his opponent isn't a clay court giant by any means and looked all at sea in the last few games, but Gaudio won some tough exchanges and got the double break with a sweeping backhand winner down the line that reminded one of the glory days of 04/05. But still, with that draw.... I'll be very impressed if he wins against Djokovic, let alone Ferrer after that.
Good to see Mr. backhand winning again.
He has a tough match against Djokovic, but as it was said in the blog entry Jaite is with him, and that may be important for his mental state.
I hope the cat is back for good, confidence is what he needs, and victories are the only way to get it back.
Moya retired and I don't know why...
I'm hoping to get to see Nalbandian-Murray and Nalbandian-Nadal, those would be nice matches.
Andreev crashed Acasuso, and the Russian is very capable of doing that by pulling a "vs. Chile in DC" kind of performance. But I didn't see the match, so I don't know. Acasuso was in poor form in previous weeks.
Downgrading Monte-Carlo is an insult to tennis history, and I hope the players stand up and defend the tournament.
Eagerly waiting for the entry about the depth of claycourt tennis.
Andreev won against Chucho more easily than expected, hopefully he will build up on this result next round against Gonzalez. According to reports Moya had a leg injury, hopefully nothing serious. I look forward to seeing Almagro vs. Berdych, Tomas hates facing agressive players of this type, but we will see some big hitting for sure.
The big news was the top players' conference, I think it will force Mr. Disney to communicate his thoughts, so far we only had rumors and there is no doubt that Tiriac would prefer a sudden announcement at the end of the clay season. I think Prince Albert is a tennis fan but he appears a low key guy, he can certainly turn up the heat for the ATP given that their European headquarters are based in the principality.
It was good seeing claycourt tennis back on my TV, even though some of the results weren't too my liking, but it can never be the way.
Baghdatis was awful against Mirnyi, he really looks like he wants to be somewhere else than on court at the moment. Max didn't even serve well and still won in straight sets and Marcos was 1/8 in break points.
Gaudio well it's good to see that he won his match and it helped that Tursunov isn't the best on the surface. Djokovic does play quite a flat game and it will be tough for Gaston.
Big Seppi will be on TV and he has one of the biggest tests against Federer. I liked what I saw against Gabashvili, though it won't help him this time around. The handshake was interesting, where Gabashvili didn't even look at him in the face.
Moya has hampered by his left leg, some problem in his thigh from what I saw.
Andreev played quite well according to some friends I have there in the tourney as well.
Ferrero was pumped after his win over Henman and the interview courtside was the funniest thing of that match. It was sth like this:
Corretja (Spanish TV commentator): blablabla... after your great tournament in Valencia... as an organiser (loool) what are you goals here in MonteCarlo?
JCF: When you have the "level" ("nivel" in Spanish, maybe it´s a bit different in this context, it´s a mixture between skills&form) your goal is to win the event, of course
(humble as usual, Ferrero, but what level?? lol)
Deivid
It's as good to have clay back on my tv as seeing this blog alive again!!
Was nice to see Gaudio put a W next to a match, especially on clay, even if it was against someone who says clay's for girls.....
Sad about all those retirements, Moya, Monfils. Paulo was sick too, though he could at least play his entire match.
I only saw the 2nd set of Baghdatis/Mirnyi. To be honest, I wasn't expecting Marcos to win this one. And, am I the only one who noticed he gave up that trademark of his, that is, bouncing the ball between his legs before serving?
No surprises as Ferrer handled Simon very easily and he is the likely 3rd round opponent for Djokovic/Gaudio.
Choupi, I think Marcos did it a few times, but I will look out it for more when he plays next. He does not look his usual exuberant self and that is not good.
South Americans are falling like flies...
Berdych definitely got the easy ride into the 3rd round they may as well have given him a Bye into the 3rd round. Benji Becker is a total clay clown and it shows how bad ToJo is.
The Toad played well against Davydenko and he can play on the surface, but is so inconsistent.
Gaudio there were some good signs there in the 2nd set of his match against Djokovic. He still lacks belief, but there is some hope there.
Nadal was ruthless.
Why did ToJo get a WC into Monte Carlo? Because he lives there? It seems like an odd choice.
Anybody know if Norman is still travelling with him? Now there was a Swede who knew how to play and win on clay :)
ToJo must have some good friends in the Monte Carlo club, what a clay clown.
Nadal and Federer again in another final. Berdman was a joke in the 1st set with shit serving and the poor returning throughout the match cost him and Nadal was as solid as ever.
Berdych with his very flat game and we know what happens when he is just a little off in his timing. This was clearly shown in this match and what happened generally. He did well when he went to the net, but couldn't get their more on his own terms.
You have to look at the individuals game, he doesn't have the big heavy forehand to throw it up there to start the point and his backhand slices are still in a development stage. Yes, it was frustrating, but he was outplayed and got what he deserved.
ToJo and Bjorkman have a menage a trois with that female boss of the club who handed out the trophies. How else could anyone of them get a wc? Three set masters finals suck btw.
The final was anticlimax, Roger was neither aggressive enough nor consistent enough and got what he deserved. Nadal was never fully challenged in this tournament, apart from the 2nd set against Tomas and the 1st set against Roger.
Nadal was untroubled at all during the week apart from the second set against Berdych.
Three set finals are a fucking joke for a Masters event, then we all know the ATP are jokers.
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