On The Red Stuff

Miami is ended and the summer is gone, and now we have embarked onto the clay swing, one of the most interesting swings of the year. I love the clay swing - the one before Roland Garros, anyway. The clay tournaments after Wimbledon seem really stupid to me - though I haven't examined the new schedule, so I don't know what they're like now...

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But I digress. Clay is here - so what can we expect? Who is going to shine and who is going to fall?

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We talked about Andy Murray yesterday - this season is going to be a huge test for him, a real measure of his claim to being in that elite top echelon. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have all proved their abilities on all surfaces, all making semis at all four Slams - can Murray do the same and bring it on the red stuff? Though speaking of that top echelon, they'll need to maintain (or, in the cases of Federer and Djokovic, improve) their current form. I don't think anyone would ever doubt the ability of Rafa Nadal to absolutely dominate this swing. Federer has consistently shown himself to be the world #2 on clay. But who else is there to look out for?

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Tommy Robredo is one that I would definitely keep an eye on. He's been playing fiercely well over the last little while - maybe not so much at Indian Wells and Miami, but he's been pretty consistently good throughout the year. I think he's a real shot at a semi-final berth - I nominated him about a month ago for this position, and I'm sticking with. Obviously it depends which way the draw falls - I wouldn't pick him over Rafa, for example - but I like his chance to go deep.

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I'm also hoping David Ferrer can bring the form on clay, on which he is consistently good, and also Stan Wawrinka, who really earned his stripes on clay last year with that final in Rome. I'm also going to be interested to see how Andy Roddick goes on the red stuff, which is definitely not his arena - he's been playing quite well of late and it'll be interesting to see how it translates.

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And from the Stars? Gulbis - he made the quarters at Roland Garros last year. But Thomaz Bellucci will also be good to watch, and I'd keep an eye on Eduardo Schwank as well. And there's also a young Portuguese kid I'm keeping an eye on - Frederico Gil. He's not quite a Star yet, but worth watching...

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Today's Results

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Grand Prix Hassan II (Casablanca)

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Victor Hanescu def. Steve Darcis, 6-4 7-5

Florent Serra def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-3 6-3

Ivan Ljubicic def. Arnaud Clement, 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 6-4

Frederico Gil def. Alberto Martin, 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Ivan Navarro def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 7-5 4-2 retired

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US Men's Clay Court Championship (Houston)

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Jurgen Melzer def. Robert Kendrick, 6-1 7-5

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Andalucia Tennis Experience (Marbella)

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Sorana Cirstea def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-4 6-2

Roberta Vinci def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4

Nicole Vaidisova def. Angelique Kerber, 3-6 6-4 6-4

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The MPS Group Championships (Ponte Vedra Beach)

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Kateryna Bondarenko def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Madison Keys def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 7-5 6-4