Monte Carlo Final: Djokovic vs. Nadal Preview and Prediction

It's the final we've been anticipating all week; Djokovic vs. Nadal. This is the one clay court Master's tournament that they did not face-off against each other last year. Djokovic defeated Nadal quite comfortably at Madrid and Rome last year - he beat him at his own game and played at an extremely high level. Can he repeat that level of tennis this year?

If he is to do that he will certainly have to raise game. He came through his semifinal today against Berdych in a third set and was up and down throughout the match; squandering a 4-2 lead in the first set and losing it 6-4. He looked agitated but managed to get through the match 4-6 6-3 6-2.

Nadal on the other hand has had an excellent tournament, as you'd expect. Any speculation of his withdrawal from the Miami semifinal a few weeks ago has been silenced. In particular he came through against an in-form Wawrinka who demolished Almagro earlier in fantastic fashion. Nadal came through against a stubborn Gilles Simon today, winning 6-3 6-4 and is certainly the favourite for tomorrow's final in my eyes.

I did however, say that last year in Rome where Djokovic ultimately swept the floor with Nadal. The question mark about this match is how Djokovic will play - we all know Nadal will play his usual clay court tennis; with measured aggression but willing to rally and work the point. I don't think Nadal will have much mental block against Djokovic here in Monte Carlo - he loves the court and stadium and will be hungry to win his eighth consecutive Monte Carlo crown. In order for Djokovic to win he'll have to shift into sixth gear and regain his trademark mental strength that he displayed last year. His desire is there but he has appeared frustrated on court, and is understandably still upset after his grandfather's death.

This match will be interesting. We all know what we're in for; long gruelling rallies and it should be a great match. I pick Nadal in straight sets. I don't see Djokovic being consistent enough and winning enough of the (multiple) long rallies to win this match.

Enjoy the final, it'll be a long one.

Monte Carlo Day 3: Order of Play + Popcorn Matches

• • You can find the order of play for tomorrow here.
  • Here are my thoughts on the popcorn matches of the day.
  • Andy Murray vs Viktor Troicki
  • Although this is not the most exciting fixture of the day, it is still a difficult first match on the clay for the Scot. It's always interesting to see how Murray fares against a player with the power that Troicki possesses - but this is clay court tennis now, power is not as overwhelming and as much of a weapon as it is on the other court surfaces. For this reason I think Troicki will find it difficult to keep the rallies short - especially against a mover like Murray. I think Murray will be victor (pun intended) in two reasonably comfortable sets.
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  • Kohlschreiber vs Tsonga
  • This is probably the most watchable match of the day as Kohlschreiber is accomplished on a clay court and Tsonga is a threat on all surfaces. What makes this match especially watchable is that both players are all court players which is nice to see as a lot of what we see is intense baseline rallying - especially on clay. I can see this match going either way but Tsonga is the safer bet as the German can be up and down in terms of his standard of play. I'm not going to be risky, I'll go with Tsonga to win this one in two, possibly three.
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  • Stanislas Wawrinka vs Feliciano Lopez
  • A similar case to the Kohlschreiber-Tsonga match in the sense that both players are all court players - although one could argue that Lopez is more accomplished at the net compared to the baseline. Lopez made the semifinals last week in Houston, only to lose in a very close match with John Isner, and so you could say Lopez is in-form. Whereas Wawrinka has been up and down this year - as he often is - but is a very accomplished clay court player and is more of a threat from the back of the court and so for this reason I don't think Lopez will pose much of a threat on Wawrinka's service games. The sets could be close due to Lopez's majestic serve - he may even manage to sneak a set - but I'd favour Wawrinka in this match.
  • Happy watching!

Miami in Review, Red Stuff Next..

Had a hectic week outside of tennis and so I found it difficult to do my usual previews during the week of the tournament! The awkward timing of the release of the order of play in the UK didn't help either.

I managed to find enough time to watch most of the tennis, however. The first real upset being Andy Roddick's defeat of last year's semifinalist Roger Federer. Roddick managed to take the first set in a tiebreak - a set where Federer looked disinterested on Roddick's service games and returned very badly. In the past, Roddick's serve hasn't really troubled him - credit to Roddick though, he was very solid in that set. Federer brought the big guns for the second set and one it very easily, but the final set was not very similar. Federer's level did not drop at all but Roddick regained his serving form and played a blistering return game to break Federer with four forehand winners. A remarkable victory for Roddick - shame he could not repeat it in his next match - Juan Monaco slaughtered in a match where the American's legs simply gave in.

Monaco quietly made his way through the draw and came up against Novak Djokovic in the semifinal who had a reasonably simple run up until this match. The Serb was unstoppable in the first set - but a very spirited performance in the second set by Monaco almost paid off, but he succumbed in the tiebreak.

In the other half of the draw Nadal met Tsonga in the quarterfinals - a match where Nadal was far from his best and his serve looked especially feeble in the final set. This was maybe due to a knee injury he was suffering from which made him pull out of his semifinal against Andy Murray - a match I thought he would have lost anyway. I reckon this withdrawal was largely precautionary - so fair play to Nadal, he wants to be at his best for his beloved clay and I'm sure he will be. This withdrawal meant that Andy Murray got through to the final only having to play three matches!

In the final Novak Djokovic took the first set 6-1. Sounds one-sided but it was actually a close contest. The next set was of high quality, Djokovic having plenty of chances to break the Brit but never finally managing to get it - most of them were saved very well. Andy Murray came close to taking the set but it was destined to be a tiebreak in which unsurprisingly Djokovic played fearlessly and took it (7-4).

The Serb ultimately claimed his third trophy in Miami.

A thoroughly entertaining tournament, despite the fall of Federer and Nadal's withdrawal, which was concluded by a decent final contest - not anywhere near as close to the final we were treated to last year, which was in my opinion the best match of 2011.

Next up is Monte Carlo where all the top four are expected to be playing, sounds good!