The first Masters tournament of the year has more twists and turns than space mountain. Monte Carlo is an absolutely beautiful venue that players love to play in. For this Masters 1000, I will take the top two players and evaluate their chances of hoisting up the cup at the end of the day. Let's take a look at our line up.
World #1: Novak Djokovic
Nole is coming of another Masters 1000 title in Miami and will be looking to do something that no man has been able to do in the past 7 years, beat Rafa Nadal at this venue. He will be on a collision course to face Rafa in the finals but has to go through a couple of tricky opponents first.
Alexandr Dolgopolov
He could be called the Magician of Ukraine. With his varying spins and angles, he could give Nole a tricky match as we saw last year at the US Open in the 1st set going to 16-14 in the breaker. The next two sets went rather quick and did not live up to the long, exciting breaker in the 1st set. Expect the same out here as I see Nole beating The Dog in 2 long sets.
David Ferrer
Arguably the toughest match before the finals with Rafa (assuming Nadal gets there). David Ferrer should be hungry as he has dropped from 5 in the world to 6, Jo Willie Tsonga now claims that spot. This Spaniard has made a living at working his opponent and will be looking to take it to Djokovic here. He has had success with Nole, beating him at The Barclays ATP World Final but Djokovic has won the last two meetings at The Aussie Open and, as recently, Miami. Expect a much tougher match with a possible upset.
Andy Murray
Andy has to be itching to beat these guys at big events. This is a chance to take out Nole and then face Rafa in the final. Beating Nadal there would prove to him and to a lot of people that he has a chance at Roland Garros. After two tough matches in his previous rounds by Nole, Murray can really capitalize here but don't count on it. An 8-5 head-to-head record and a chance to beat Rafa on clay again will be too much of a motivation for Djokovic. Expect him to make it,yet, to another final.
SEVEN TIME Defending Champ: Rafael Nadal
It is just SICK how many times this guy has won at Monte Carlo. People love him here and they will want him to pick up his eighth straight title. Rafa has a couple of players that can push him but expect him in the finals. Let's take a look at his toughest match ups.
Nicolas Almagro
This test won't happen until the quarterfinals and that is assuming Nico will make it that far as he will face a Stan Wawrinka eager to reprove himself. Even though their last battle was at the French and Nico took Rafa to two breakers don't expect anything here; Rafa has a 7-0 record against Almagro. NEXT....
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Now this "cat" can really give Rafa some trouble. Jo-Willie can play on any surface and has the quickness and touch of, just that, a cat. Out of 10 matches, Nadal has taken 7 of them with a comprehensive, routine win on clay (have only played on the dirt one time). Tsonga will be excited to prove to the world that he deserving of his new world #5 ranking and ready to move up but I see Rafa being too strong and more motivated than Jo-Willie.
Rafael Nadal
What?!?! How can Rafa be his own opponent? He is coming of retiring from Miami with knee issues that have plagued him since Melbourne. This is one BIG reason why Rafa is a question mark at this event and can fall early. The other reason that could see Rafa fall here is the idea that he right now has no answer for Djokovic losing to him in 7 straight finals. He has admitted that Nole is in his head and that he is frustrated. This can either kill him mentally or give him more motivation to beat Djokovic here.
Not in a long time have we seen Monte Carlo raise so many questions and story lines. This year's tournament will give us a better idea of how the clay season will go or maybe it will throw things into more of a whirlwind. One thing is for sure, Roger Federer will be enjoying his time off watching these guys beat up on each other.
Hyper Smash
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