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!

Doha Hosts an All-French Final

Wait, what? Federer and Nadal out?

Earlier today Roger Federer withdrew from his semifinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Doha because of a back injury which he says was aggravated during his match against the wildcard Zemlja. It came as a surprise but I'm sure this wasn't a decision Federer made easily, being the defending champion. But all in all I deem it to be a good decision as it is the Australian Open that is important - especially for Federer. He's probably being cautious - rightfully so, and I'm sure he'll be back fit and ready for the upcoming Slam. On a side note this is only the second time Federer has withdrawn from a tournament in his whole career.

As a result Tsonga goes through to tomorrow's final without having to hit a ball, and he is set to play the man of the moment; Gael Monfils who conquered Nadal 6-3 6-4 a couple of hours ago. I only managed to catch the last 4 games of the match when Monfils was down with Nadal serving at *4-2. He won the next 4 games. In crushing fashion too, he was truly playing great. Hitting with huge power, moving incredibly and consistently (the key for Monfils) and I gather that's how he played in the first set. If you missed the match definitely try to catch the highlights, they're worth watching just for the penultimate point that set Monfils up with a match point. His performance in the last 4 games reminded me of Nadal's defeat at the 2009 US Open against Del Potro. But I think its worth mentioning that Nadal didn't seem to be moving brilliantly but still the credit goes to Monfils who played a blinder. Not to worry for Nadal though, I think he'll be ready for the Australian Open and its good he's got some matches under his belt - and as we all know, once Nadal's through to the second week of a Slam he's incredibly difficult to beat - even if he did struggle through the first week.

Tomorrow's final will be interesting and very entertaining I'm sure. They both are excellent when they're hot and Monfils was certainly hot today, and they both have big serves. Tsonga has more variety and finesse around the net but Monfils is the superior mover. They both can be 'up and down' in matches so I think the player who will prevail will be the one who will play more steadily. Tsonga should look to come to the net as Monfils' lateral movement is brilliant and hustles very well. It's a difficult matchup to predict and their head to head (2-1 to Tsonga doesn't appear to be significant) but I'd give the edge to Tsonga because I feel he'd be more difficult to break as his serve is huge and more consistent than Monfils'. But to be honest with you, I don't know.