I'll do one preview now and maybe a modified preview once the draw is out. This preview is primarily based on how players are playing now. Let's start with the top contenders for the French Open. Favorites Rafael Nadal You have to give Rafa the nod heading into the French. Although there were some issues
Apparently, Djokovic wasn't feeling so good and wasn't sure he wanted to play Belgrade, but given that it's his home tournament, he felt obligated. The least likely Serbian to win today was therefore, Filip Krajikovic, 18 years old, reaching the semifinals. Good news for Americans. John Isner beat Richard Gasquet in 3 sets earlier. His
Federer appears to schedule a tournament like Estoril so he can build confidence playing decidedly weaker players. It may be the only tournament of the year Federer enters with a draw this weak. Federer played Doha, which is an ATP 250 event, but it typically draws stellar fields, such as Nadal and Davydenko, and, in
The clay court season starts with Monte Carlo and culminates at Madrid. Technically, there's one more clay tournament (in Nice, France) prior to the French, but the likelihood is no top seeds will play that tournament. There are three Masters 1000 (Monte Carlo, Rome, and Madrid) with Monte Carlo considered an optional tournament (the other
It was only two weeks ago when Verdasco decimated Djokovic in the Monte Carlo semifinals, 6-2, 6-2. Djokovic promised that he would acquit himself better this time around. And so, Djokovic did, but the second hottest player on the clay circuit, Fernando Verdasco, still won, in a 3 hour plus match. Verdasco has taken a
It's been a while since Italians had a top male player. Back in the golden age of pro tennis, in the mid 1970s, the Foro Italico, site of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, once called the Italian Open, was a raucous arena filled with rowdy Italians. Whistles could sometimes lead to throwing of coins. Such was
Rafael Nadal showed that he's still master of clay dispatching fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of Monte Carlo. He will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco in the finals. Verdasco had a surprisingly easy match over number 1 seed and number 2 ranked player, Novak Djokovic, winning 6-2, 6-2 showing Djokovic has
Although the event is held in mostly French-speaking Monte Carlo, the tournament has taken on a Spanish flair. Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Juan Carlos Ferrero met in the quarterfinals. Nadal finally got something more than a token challenge against Ferrero, but still won rather handily, 6-4, 6-2. David Ferrer edged Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-5, 7-6(1). The
Last year, Andy Murray might have felt he was making progress on clay. Always his weakest surface since turning pro, Murray's problems were compounded this year by his loss in the finals of the Australian Open. While his straight set drubbing by Federer was not entirely unexpected, what was unexpected was how the loss affected
Monte Carlo is the first Masters 1000 tournament on clay. Several players are either injured or have elected not to play. Specifically Roger Federer (skipping), Juan Martin del Potro (injured), Nikolay Davydenko (injured), Andy Roddick (skipping). Indeed, no Americans appear to be in the draw. All the seeds moved on. Juan Carlos Ferrero, seeded 9th,
