When the Ground is Red

I could have written this post last year and I don't think anyone would have been able to tell. If I had called the opponent Mr X, then I guarantee no one would have been able to tell.

Put Rafa Nadal on clay - particularly, it seems, the clay of Monte Carlo - and it doesn't matter who is on the other side of the net, because he's going to win. The opponent, in many ways, is beaten before he even begins. No one dethrones Rafa Nadal in Monte Carlo. And, as it is the first tournament of the clay season (the proper clay season, none of this Golden Swing ridiculousness), it's an ominous note for the rest of the ATP.

When the ground is red, it's Rafa's time. (As well as all those other times when it's Rafa's time.)

I don't think Rafa played anywhere near his true abilities on clay today - not even close. And yet, even playing at, what, 70%? 75%? there was no way Daveed Ferrer was touching him. And Ferrer is not exactly sub-par when it comes to clay - he has a clay title already this year, which he earned by beating Almagro, the Prince of Clay. But when it comes to Rafa...

It must be so hard for people to come out against Rafa on clay and expect to win. Belief is a huge ingredient of the tennis... cake? pie? and it is a rare man who comes out with even the faintest hint of belief that he'll win. This is why Nadal/Djokovic on clay will be such an interesting match, I think, whensoe'er it happens (and it seems likely that it will, at some point), because if there is one thing Novak has never struggled with, it's belief.

But that is a match for another day. Today is all about Rafa, and one of the most ridiculous tournament streaks we have ever seen. Congratulations, Rafa. When the ground is red, you are terrifyingly, ridiculously good.

Whiplash

So it was largely a day where the unexpected remained unrealised in Monte Carlo. Rafa won (duh). Roger won (also unsurprising). Ferrer and Melzer won. Even Andy Murray won, though I don't know if we can necessarily call that 'expected'... but in a world where we all know Rafa is going to win the tournament anyway, pretty much everyone did what they were supposed to.

With a couple of exceptions.

I'm going to start with the lesser exception first, because really, I don't know if anyone ever actually expects Gael Monfils to win. There is always a possibility that he will - and he does often enough that he's seeded in this tournament - but it is never, ever a surprise when he loses. Even when it's to a qualifier. I'm pretty sure that qualifier-conqueror, Frederico Gil, is a specialist dirtballer, but even still... it could have been some random grass court specialist ranked #684748 in the world and there's still a chance Monfils would go down. That's just Monfils.

But you who is supposed to be consistent? People that played in the Wimbledon final last year, and who have been ranked in the top ten for a while now. I hope you're trembling in your boots, Tomas Berdych, because if you play like this when Wimbledon comes round again, you are going to get booted out of the top ten so fast that you'll get whiplash.

Seriously, I feel like people have been waiting for Berdych to 'arrive' for, like, ever, and when he had that Roland Garros/Wimbledon run last year, everyone thought his time had come at last. But you know what? I'm getting more and more confident that that brief period of tennis excellence from Berdych was a BIG FAT FLUKE. Because has he lived up to it ever since?

Not even a little bit, not even at all.

He lost to Ivan Ljubicic, who is, let's be fair, a very, very good player. But the guys at the top of the game - your Federer, your Nadal, your Djokovic - they didn't get where they are just by occasionally losing to 'very, very good players'. They have what it takes. And Berdych, it appears, does not. And at this stage? I don't think he ever will.

Ladders

So Andy Murray won a match. While sporting one of the most ridiculous hairdos ever seen on a tennis court. Um, like, well done Andy. And stuff.

We all know that I am not exactly Murray's biggest fan, but I genuinely would like to see him get a few wins in here on the clay. The hardcourt season was a total wash and I don't know if those demons are going away. But when the tour gets on clay, I think the pressure lifts from Murray's shoulders. No one expects him to perform on the red stuff. We've all heard for years that Murray is capable of winning in Australia, in the US, oh yeah, AND DEFINITELY at SW19, but at Roland Garros? No way. And that, I think, really lightens Murray's load.

So, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Andy gets a few good wins in on the clay. I would also not be surprised to see a grass court collapse once the immense burden of being a Brit at Wimbledon descends once more. That's the time that will make or break Murray (for 2011, at least). He's been in a hole, and while the clay season can be a bit of a ladder out if he plays well, it's not until the grass that we'll know whether he truly has made it out. The clay season is almost irrelevant, in its way, so he may as well make the best of it he can.

Fernando Verdasco was all like 'oh yeah, I'm just making the best of it I can on the hardcourts until REAL TENNIS starts, I WILL SHOW YOU, MILOS RAONIC RAAAAAAR'... and then he lost tamely to Disco Tommy. Pride and the fall, Nando. It's a thing.

This loss sends Verdasco nosediving out of the top ten - FINALLY. How long has it taken?! Geez. Andy Murray might not have won a match since Australia (till today), but at least he's still a little bit relevant. Verdasco just seems to be devolving further and further into a pit of irrelevance every day. And he doesn't have a ladder.

Be Merry, Be Free

I promise that when I quit my job (right before Roland Garros begins!) I will be better at that daily updating thing I had going.

YAY FEDERER WON YAY THIS MAKES ME HAPPY GO OFF AND BE HAPPY TOO.

Modest Achievements (and Immodest Failings)

In the grand old tradition (which I started yesterday) of talking about TWO WHOLE PLAYERS in one post, today I'm... going to talk about two players. Wow, really ruined that surprise. Oops.

The two lucky dudes on whom the glorious honour of my educated opinion are being bestowed today are Richard Gasquet and Nikolay Davydenko. I don't think their careers are directly comparable in the long run - Gasquet, as we both know, is quite a bit younger than Kolya and if talent was the only ingredient in the sundae that is a tennis player, then he would blow Kolya off the court - but they both have been around for a while, both have been in the top ten, and both are dudes on whom I have a little something something to say today. So there.

I don't think it's a secret to say that Richard Gasquet is one of the biggest wasted opportunities in tennis today. He is a typical French player - talented to the point of absurdity, capable of incredible - almost alien - tennis, and yet so inconsistent it can make you want to scratch your eyes out. I always think about Gasquet in the same box as Berdych - or at least Berdych prior to 2010. Gasquet made a run to the Wimbledon semis once, I think, but that's about it. I think that Berdych's one final is the one final he'll ever make at Slam level. Sketchy and inconsistent and... yeah, all those things.

But I actually want to say nice things about Richou today. I think he has actually played really well this year. He hasn't had a single first round exit - which for someone as skittish as him, is really something. He hasn't beaten anyone EPIC AND MAJOR OMG, but he's put together some nice streaks of matches - his run to the semis in Dubai, for example, where he beat Gilles Simon, or his run to the quarters in Indian Wells, where he came up against the blisteringly hot Novak Djokovic.

I'm not saying that he's going to go on and win Wimbledon or anything like that. But this is nice stuff to see from someone as traditionally inconsistent as Richou. Modest accomplishments, but solid ones. They're the ones that will earn you points. He just won over Denis Istomin in Monte Carlo, making another tournament where he hasn't lost in the first round. Well done, Richou.

And then we come to Kolya.

He's the opposite of Gasquet - a player who has made the most of talents that are a little bit limited. We know that he's challenged the great ones. We know he's done amazing things. But right now, he is having the most godawful year, poor thing. He just lost to Robin Haase in Monte Carlo, and his ranking is falling and falling. He's lost more times than he's won this year. He probably won't be seeded in Roland Garros, and I'd call him a dangerous floater, but who knows how dangerous he'll really be?

Haase is only the last of the players this year who've beaten Kolya who shouldn't have. After getting all the way to the final in Doha, Kolya has had a shocker of a year. What's he going to do to turn things round? I don't know. People are shouting 'retire', but I think there's more tennis in Kolya yet. We just need to find a way to winkle it out somehow.

Into The Ravine

It has taken a long, long time for this to happen, but I have fallen off the Ernests Gulbis bandwagon. Ker-plunk. I am off. And the bandwagon is merrily wheeling away into the distance... actually, no. It's bouncing and jolting across interminable potholes and I'm pretty sure it's about to fall into a ravine. Hence the jumping off. I'm not going down with it.

If there has ever been a tennis player who lacked mental fortitude more than Ernests Gulbis, I bet I've never heard on them, on account of of they never would have won anything ever. Gulbis is very, very talented - ain't no one denying that. But he's also clearly lazy and extremely mentally volatile, and there is only so far talent can take you. He is the least disciplined player in all aspects of his game I have ever seen. And it is such a waste, because those crazy-talented players are the best kind to watch. In his way, he is like a skittish Svetlana Kuznetsova - and when Sveta is your benchmark for consistency, problems: you has them.

It's a little odd to write this article when Gulbis has just pulled what is technically an upset victory over also-skittish Alexandr Dolgopolov. But there is a difference between Dolgopolov's brand of crazy and Gulbis's, and that difference means that, in the long run, Sascha is going to be the more successful one. Bet you any money.

Sascha can go hot and cold in huge extremes - look at his match against Soderling in Australia. He got pummelled to pieces in the first set - 6-1 - and then suddenly he was on FREAKING FIRE and Robin Soderling was walking off the court in defeat, wondering what the hell happened, where the kid had come from and who he thought he was anyway. No one will ever call Dolgopolov the model of consistency. He's almost Safinesque that way - though far less explosive. He seems like a pretty chill guy, despite his massive swings. But he's taken his massive talent and, with his coach Jack, applied some discipline (albeit of the long-haired boho variety). And this year has shown that that works.

Gulbis, on the other hand? Anyone who saw the semis in Sydney knows just how much he can do and just how lazily he can throw it away. He has a huge talent but he seems too lazy to do anything with it. I wrote a few years back, when I was on that bandwagon, that I expected him to be top ten in a year - two, max. And he hasn't even come close. Not because he doesn't have the talent - he does - but because he doesn't seem to have the desire to do that much with it.

Gulbis may have won against Dolgopolov today. These things happen. But in the long run, Sascha is the one with the will to win, and if one of them is going into the top ten, it's Sascha all the way. Ernie may have won this battle, but Sascha will win the war.

Roman Holiday

Wow - Barcelona finished without me even noticing. I got all caught up in Fed Cup and then suddenly Rome's started and that whole week is gone.

A little late, but awesome work, Nando Verdasco. I haven't been reeeeeeeally convinced by Nando for a while now, but to back up a final in Monte Carlo (where, admittedly, he got crushed, but them's the haps when you play Rafa, I guess) with a win in Barcelona is pretty much epic. Didn't see the match and so thus can't comment, but Nando's making a push to be in those claycourt contenders this year. And good on him for it.

Now, we're all caught up. Over to Rome.

I'd have to say the award for biggest win of the day has to go to Ernests Gulbis. Yes, I know I'm biased, considering I've been clinging to the Gulbis train for a while now, but if he wins his next match I'm going to be cursing his name (he's playing Federer) and so I have to laud him now. Marcos Baghdatis is a tough, tough opponent, even if his ranking doesn't necessarily reflect this, and Gulbis smashed him like a guitar. I'm going to be very interested to see how Ernie does on clay - his breakthrough, we must remember, came at Roland Garros 2008...

Biggest loss of the day is a toss up between Sam Querrey and Juan Carlos Ferrero, but I'm going to have to go with the Mosquito on this one. A qualifier? Seriously, JC? I know you can do so much better than this...

...but perhaps, as it often happens on clay, this will be a blessing in disguise. Maybe JC will get some rest and be super fresh when he hits the home courts in Madrid...

Message Sent

Message sent.

So that whole thing about Rafa Nadal not winning a title for nearly a year? Functionally irrelevant once he steps onto clay, particularly the clay of Monte Carlo, his self-professed favourite tournament.

There has not been a moment this week when Rafa has not looked like winning.

If Rafa keeps playing like this, no one is going to be able to touch him. End of story. The only person who might even come close to getting a set off him is Federer, and even that might be contentious. If Rafa stays in his happy place, then he's going to slide right into his fifth Roland Garros title, mark my words.

The only thing that might end up being his undoing is, like last year, his scheduling. We all know that his faith in his knees is probably not optimal at the moment - though that might all have slipped away once he stepped on the clay and attained nirvana, I don't know. He's playing four tournaments in five weeks, and it's a decent bet that he's going to win every single one of them.

What Rafa doesn't want to do is run out of steam. I mean, sure, he has a lot of steam, but I'm sure there is a school of thought that says that he should, you know, take it easy and maybe not play so much tennis, particularly on this surface, which is so tough on the body.

But if he's going to beat opponents for the loss of only one game, as in the case of Nando Verdasco today, he can pretty much play as much tennis as he likes...

Nole in the Hole

I am not, as we all know, a huge fan of Novak Djokovic, but I was getting really excited about the prospect of a Nole/Rafa final in Monte Carlo. I don't know if anyone will ever forget that epic match they had in Madrid last year - it is definitely one of the classics of the last ten years, no question.

So you can understand why I, and the world, have been salivating at the prospect of a claycourt rematch. The newly be-#2ed Novak against the semi-injured king of clay... it could have been great.

Except for the bit where Novak went and lost to Nando 'poor man's Rafa' Verdasco in one of the worst losses of his career.

Kudos to Verdasco for playing awesomely here, but I really don't think anyone can deny that stuff is up with Novak. Firing Todd Martin is probably good in this respect - he's changing things up - but he really needs to get his act together if he's going to be a real contender at Roland Garros.

It's not so much that he lost to Verdasco - Nando is a great player - but the manner of his loss. Djokovic hasn't lost a match so badly since he was beaten by Safin at the Australian Open in 2005, and that's saying something. His rut has been overshadowed by the rut of Murray, but he needs to pull up his socks if he really wants to rock the HispanoSuisse domination machine on the red stuff.

The Bakery Reopens

The Rafa Nadal bakery is well and truly open for business. Two bagels, two breadsticks... wow. That's something else.

Rafa hasn't won a tournament since Rome last year and so he is, in some respects, at his most vulnerable going into this clay season. If he cannot win on clay, especially here at Monte Carlo, where he's won six times in a row before, then something is going on.

...but as of this moment, something is not going on. Or rather it is, but it is the good something. If Rafa wanted to send a message, he could hardly have done it better. Smell that fresh bakery aroma - it's going to be around for a while.

I mean, sure, Thiemo de Bakker and Michael Berrer aren't exactly Federer and Djokovic. But when you consider the pressure - the incredibly immense pressure - that is on Nadal at the moment, the way he has opened this season is exemplary. There's no fear from Rafa - Shmafa is nowhere to be seen on the red stuff. There's none of that caution that we saw after that loss he took to Soderling at Roland Garros. There's none of that.

It's a little difficult to make a sweeping statement based on two matches. But when in those two matches Rafa only gave up two games... consider this statement swept. Rafa is, as ever, the man to beat at Monte Carlo - and he's the one they'll all have to overcome if anyone else is going to taste glory on clay.

Slumpy In Da House

So we all knew that Andy Murray isn't the greatest claycourter ever in the history of claycourts. No one really rates his chances of winning Roland Garros too highly - let's just say that the odds of it being his first Slam are not high.

But when you combine this slump he's in at the moment - and yes, I think it's genuinely a slump now - with the clay, then you have a lethal cocktail for the Muzz. He's playing worse than he's played in a long, long time, and now he has to do it on his worst surface too. That is not good.

I had thought that perhaps the change of surface might be a good thing for Andy - he might be able to put that black memory of the Australian Open final behind him and start fresh, the hardcourts over for a few months, out of sight, out of mind. But it looks like it's gone the other way - the red stuff has exacerbated all the worst points of his clay game and made it genuinely dreadful.

Let's be fair - he's played only one match on the stuff this season, so it might be a little early to make sweeping generalisations. But that one match was pretty telling. It's not that he lost it so much as the way he lost it - this was no pipped-to-the-post-in-a-third-set-breaker. This was a solid two hoof beatdown. Philipp Kohlschreiber made Murray look ridiculous - and that's not something Kohli does a lot. He's a good player and a very dangerous one, but he's not the type of dude that regularly just blasts people off the court.

So I'd be watching out if I were Andy Murray. This is danger country. He needs to find his feet of clay, because here be dragons (and raging bulls).

Dirty Ernie

So I'm about a day late on this one, but how about that win Ernests Gulbis had over Marco Chiudinelli? That was a pretty sweet win, if I do say so myself.

I'm always a little wary of foretelling a player's entire clay season by their performance in the first week - I mean, they need time to adjust and whatnot - but sometimes it's just really hard to resist the temptation. I certainly don't think Ernie is going to go on and win the title or anything like that - I really doubt he'll get through Stan Wawrinka in the next round - but a good solid win like this is nothing but good.

We must remember that Gulbis really sprang onto the stage when he made the quarters at Roland Garros in 2008. The boy can seriously play on the dirt. I wouldn't call him a dirtballer - I think hard courts are probably best suited to his game - but he can bring it on the red stuff. I'd give him a solid shot at any smaller tournaments he plays and, providing he gets a good draw, a pretty decent run at some of the bigger ones.

The real test for Ernie will be whether he can upset big names on clay. And well... Stan Wawrinka is a good place to start...

Viva Voce Victor

Man, I bet Victor Hanescu really appreciated his draw in Monte Carlo. About a day after he got beaten down in the final of Casablanca, he finds himself jetlagged in Monte Carlo... having to face the same dude that beat him down.

I mean, there's an argument, I suppose, that it gave him an immediate chance to wreak revenge. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite that way and he got beaten down just the same. Stan did not budge an inch, and Hanescu was just as incapable of finding a way around him as he was in Casablanca.

This is largely due to the fact that Stan is awesome, especially on the dirt - just as we have discussed in the last couple of days. However, I can't feel that Hanescu, while he is a very good player, really needs to add something to his game if he's going to progress any further.

I had the opportunity to watch Hanescu play quite a few times on my Epic Tennis Adventure in January. He was injured a bit, so it's probably unfair to base a lot on what I saw, but he played a bit like a poor man's Isner, and when the real Isner was playing (as in Hopman Cup, where I saw Hanescu first) that doesn't do too much. And then I saw him play - and get absolutely demolished - by Federer in the second round in Australia.

I'm inclined to think that Hanescu needs to grow mentally before he can improve his game. Every time I saw him play, there seemed to be a point where he almost threw in the towel - even when that point was a third set breaker, as against Hewitt in the Hopman Cup. Now, I haven't exactly made a study of him over the years, but it's something to keep on. What goes on in the mind of Victor Hanescu?

Potential

Looks like I won't be eating my couch - as predicted, Rafa Nadal took out Novak Djokovic, though Djokovic gave him a tougher time than I would have expected. As usual, I didn't see the match - stupid crappy television in Australia and stupid Canberra not being a metropolitan area - but it looks like Djokovic gave Rafa a bit of a tougher time than I would have expected. Or maybe he just played out of his skin for a set. Or maybe Shmafa turned up. Who can tell these things?

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This is insane. We talk about the pressure people put on Federer (which is also insane) - but how about the pressure people put on Nadal, especially on clay? He loses one set and I'm all like, 'oh no! what happened?' and I bet I'm not the only one. Is Nadal too going to become the victim of his own successes one day, when his knees give on him or he loses a bit of an edge and he starts to come back to the field one day? People have started to talk about the unrealised potential of Federer (personally, I think thirteen Grand Slam titles and four years of domination is a pretty decent realisation, but whatever) - will we one day talk about Nadal the same way?

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I guess that one we'll only ever get the answer to in time.

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Though speaking of potential, one girl brimming with it is Sabine Lisicki, and I am claiming a big Star victory here - she is the first of my female Stars to win a title! This allows her to join Marin Cilic in the exclusive Stars-who-have-won-titles club... yeah, I know it sounds lame, but I'm proud. I picked her out when she was a wee slip of a thing (she first caught my notice when I saw her beat Dinara Safina in the first round of the Australian Open in 2008) and now she's all winning a title. She beat Caroline Wozniacki pretty comprehensively in Charleston... and that isn't just some tiny schlep tournament either. I'm not sure how the new system of tournament rankings works for the women, but I'm pretty sure it was Tier II in the old system, and that is a pretty massive victory for someone winning their first title!

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Our last weekend winner was Roberta Vinci, whom I have only seen play once and so about whom I can make little comment... other than this. She was quite flamboyant but nothing extraordinary when I saw her play. She was unseeded, her opponent in the final, Maria Kirilenko, was the #6 seed. In fact, this holds in Charleston as well - Lisicki was the #16 seed, Wozniacki the #5 seed. The top seeds are not coming through in the WTA. They're just not winning any more. And yet they're at the top of the rankings. What does it take to dislodge a member of the top ten who is not performing?

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic, 6-3 2-6 6-1

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Sabine Lisicki def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-2 6-4

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Roberta Vinci def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-0 6-4

As Good As It Gets... In The WTA

Well, well, well... she's my only Star still in it this week and she's kind of been flying under the radar a bit, but how 'bout that Sabine Lisicki? I am very impressed indeed!

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She just took out Marion Bartoli, the #6 seed, to reach the final in Charleston, where she'll face teen queen Caroline Wozniacki (who, incidentally, was very impressive in her takedown of top seed Elena Dementieva.) This is, unless I am very much mistaken, her first WTA-level final, and I would love, love, love for her to win it. She's got so much promise and talent and just - sass. I think that was why I originally liked her so much when I saw her at the Hopman Cup - she's got so much personality as a player. I'm pretty much over-the-moon - as much as one can be with the WTA in its current state - about her making this final.

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Actually, it's a pretty ideal set up, this final. You have Lisicki, who is a youngster brimming with promise who should make the top twenty sometime within the next year or so by my reckoning, and Wozniacki, who is one of those poised to take over now that the WTA is in its current state of demise. These two are not the type that are making the WTA so frickin' annoying at the moment. These are two of the ones that are making it worthwhile. So... yeah. Go Sabine. Go Caroline. It'll be a good one.

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We have a Rafa/Djokovic final over in Monte Carlo. Rafa took out Murray with reasonable ease (kudos to Murray, though, for making it that deep on his least favourite surface) and Djokovic had a bit more of a struggle against Stan W, but came through in the end. I'm not even going to bother tipping the final, it is so obvious who will win.

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Andy Murray, 6-2 7-6 (7-4)

Novak Djokovic def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 4-6 6-1 6-3

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Caroline Wozniacki def. Elena Dementieva, 6-4 5-7 7-5

Sabine Lisicki def. Marion Bartoli, 6-3 6-1

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Maria Kirilenko def. Carla Suárez Navarro, 4-6 6-1 6-2

Roberta Vinci def. Francesca Schiavone, 0-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Tatjana Malek, 6-4 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. María José Martínez Sánchez, 6-1 3-6 6-0

Not Altogether Unexpected

We're going to have an intriguing - not altogether unexpected, but certainly surprising - lineup in the semis of Monte Carlo. Rafa - well, everyone would have expected that. He made mincemeat of Nicolas Lapentti and then went on to make mincemeat of Ivan Ljubicic. If he doesn't win the tournament, then I would be prepared to eat my couch. Just putting that out there.

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We have Djokovic, who has played to his seed, if nothing else. He's been playing a bit better of late after his poor showings in the early part of the year. He's certainly not up to his standard at this time last year, but he seems to have adjusted reasonably well to the clay, despite going three sets against Fernando Verdasco. I think a lot of people underestimate the all-surface nature of the Djokovic game (I do it wilfully on account of his repellent personality, but whatever) - he actually made it to the semis of all four majors before Nadal did. I wouldn't like his chances in making it beyond his seed, but he's pretty decent on the red stuff. If I liked him more, I would say well done.

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Those two are expected - then we get into slightly more hairy territory. I don't think anyone would have picked Stan to come through his quarter - probably not even Stan. Whatever, I say - let bygones by bygones, I have forgiven him for the Federer defeat and I'm sure as hell pulling for him now. His big break was making the final of Rome against Djokovic last year and it'd be sweet to go him one further. He's totally at home on the red stuff and I want to see him make his mark.

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And then either Murray will take the fourth spot after a win over the newly-back Kolya Davydenko. He is not at home on clay and so it's going to be interesting to see how he goes this season. So far, so good, it seems - Davydenko is not just any opponent.

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But the winner? Who is going to pick against Rafa? Go on, I dare you.

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-3 6-3

Novak Djokovic def. Fernando Verdasco, 6-2 4-6 6-3

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Andreas Beck, 6-2 6-4

Andy Murray def. Nikolay Davydenko, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 6-0

Andy Murray def. Fabio Fognini, 7-6 (13-11) 6-4

Nikolay Davydenko def. David Nalbandian, 6-4 5-7 6-3

Ivan Ljubicic def. Simone Bolelli, 7-5 7-6 (7-2)

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Elena Dementieva def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 1-0 retired

Caroline Wozniacki def. Virginie Razzano, 6-2 6-0

Sabine Lisicki def. Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-0

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Francesca Schiavone def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 7-5

Roberta Vinci def. Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-3 6-3

Whaaaaaaaat?

What? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

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This is exactly what I said this morning when I woke up and saw the results. I'm sorry - I love Stan Wawrinka - but he is not supposed to beat Roger Federer. That's not the way it goes. And he is especially not supposed to beat Roger Federer in straights. That's just not the way it's supposed to happen! Not happy, Jan!

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More time for honeymooning, I suppose. But this is not what I would like to be seeing from Roger at the moment. If he doesn't pick the basket back up and go deep in Rome, then I am going to start to be very seriously concerned. I already am very seriously concerned, but considering he's a newlywed, I'm willing to forgive this one. And I suppose Stan deserved one win. But... whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

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I bet everyone is saying whaaaaaaaat? about Andreas Beck's results as well - probably even Andreas Beck. Now there's a quarter-final pick I bet nearly no one made. I remember seeing him play once - maybe Wimbledon last year? - and quite enjoying it, but I don't think I ever would have expected this one. He'll face Stan in the next round. This is a good chance for Stan, I suppose - it was about now that he made his big run last year that got him into the top ten. So that will be an interesting one to watch.

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But still... whaaaaaaaaaat?

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And someone else saying whaaaaaaaaaaat? will be Venus Williams, who lost to Sabine Lisicki - one of my Stars! I thought all was looking bleak on the Star front this week, but she's doing me proud!

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Stanislas Wawrinka def. Roger Federer, 6-4 7-5

Novak Djokovic def. Albert Montanes, 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-0

Fernando Verdasco def. David Ferrer, 6-2 6-1

Andreas Beck def. Juan Monaco, 3-6 6-2 7-5

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Elena Dementieva def. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-1 6-1

Sabine Lisicki def. Venus Williams, 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Caroline Wozniacki def. Peng Shuai, 6-3 6-4

Marion Bartoli def. Melanie Oudin, 6-4 6-1

Dominika Cibulkova def. Anastasia Rodionova, 6-7 (6-8) 6-2 6-3

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Carla Suárez Navarro def. Emilie Loit, 6-2 7-5

Lucie Safarova def. Sara Errani, 6-3 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Nicole Vaidisova, 6-2 6-3

Tatjana Malek def. Stéphanie Cohen-Aloro, 5-0 retired

In the Spirit of the Day

Some much more normal results in Monte Carlo today, after the absolute seed massacre yesterday. The usual suspects - ie. Rafa and Roger - came through in style in straights, which is very nice to see! It is National Compliments Day in Australia today, so I'd like to pay a compliment to both of these fine gentlemen:

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Rafa: Dude, ain't no one can concentrate harder than you. Watching you is exhausting, but it's fabulous. You're a credit to the sport.

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Roger: You're a trooper and a gentleman, even if you smash racquets. And you can counteract bad publicity like no one else -no one's talking about your temper tantrum any more, because you went and got married. You're also a credit to the sport.

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There are many more nice things I could say about these blokes, but that will do for today, I think.

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The seeds did not come through scot-free, however - there was one major casualty in the form of fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro. He went out to Ivan Ljubicic, who has been playing very well of late and who was #3 in the world a few scant years ago. However, he really shouldn't be a match for Juan M, who's the best of the rest at the moment (the top four being almost otherworldly.) I didn't see the match so I cannot comment - did Juan M lose or did Ivan win?

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Disappointing result for Marat Safin - he really should have won that match over Nicolas Lapentti, especially after having three match points. But in good Russian, bad Russian, we have some good news - Nikolay Davydenko is back, and he's opened up with a win. Good to see you back, Kolya!

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Rafael Nadal def. Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-2 6-3

Roger Federer def. Andreas Seppi, 6-4 6-4

Ivan Ljubicic def. Juan Martin Del Potro, 4-6 6-1 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 6-4

Nikolay Davydenko def. Ivo Karlovic, 6-4 6-3

David Ferrer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-1 6-0

David Nalbandian def. Marcel Granollers, 4-6 6-3 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 2-6 7-5 6-2

Fabio Fognini def. Marin Cilic, 6-2 6-0

Albert Montanes def. Jean-Rene Lisnard, 6-2 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5 6-3

Nicolas Lapentti def. Marat Safin, 7-6 (8-6) 2-6 7-6 (8-6)

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Venus Williams def. Sania Mirza, 6-1 3-6 6-2

Elena Vesnina def. Patty Schnyder, 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 7-5

Melanie Oudin def. Aleksandra Wozniak, 7-5 6-0

Peng Shuai def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-5 2-6 7-5

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-4 7-5

Anastasia Rodionova def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-2 6-4

Virginie Razzano def. Stéphanie Dubois, 6-3 7-6 (7-3)

Sabine Lisicki def. Lenka Wienerova, 6-4 6-3

Melinda Czink def. Vania King, 6-4 6-2

Varvara Lepchenko def. Shenay Perry, 6-2 6-3

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Barcelona Ladies Open (Barcelona)

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Roberta Vinci def. Flavia Pennetta, 6-1 6-2

Maria Kirilenko def. Severine Brémond, 7-5 6-2

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Masa Zec Peskiric, 7-5 5-7 6-2

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 3-6 6-3 6-0

Endangered Species

Aiyaiyai, Monte Carlo. We had some ker-RAZY results there overnight. Sure, the big boys got through all right - Djokovic and Murray came through in pretty convincing straights - but the rung below that? Yeesh. Berdych? Gone. Monfils? Gone. Simon? Gone.

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What is up with that?

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But there were even more shocking results than that - yes, even more shocking than Gilles Simon being beaten by Andreas Beck, who I recall having seen play and liked before - but still, qualifier. There were two that I would NOT have picked - whoever wins the bracket challenge this tournament is clearly psychic. Tommy Robredo, who has been playing so well and whom I have tipped to go deep at the French, lost to Juan Monaco, with whom I have not been impressed in the past. Sure, he's a claycourter, but Robredo is a pocket dynamo! This is not a good result at all.

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But even more shocking, the player who has regularly been #3 in the claycourt season over the past couple of years behind Rafa and Roger, the Prince of Clay himself, Nicolas Almagro, lost to Albert Montanes. It was a third set breaker, but THAT IS NO EXCUSE! I have high expectations of Almagro and this was just not cool. Montanes is a wily veteran, but Almagro is genuinely up there with the best in the world on the red stuff. This wasn't good enough.

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Maybe I'm expecting too much. The season has only just started and maybe the players need some time to get their eye in or whatever. But... ugh, please. Seeded players are becoming an endangered species in Monte Carlo. It's starting to look like a WTA tournament.

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Though it will be interesting to see what some of these lower-ranked guys can do... (Kudos to Marat Safin, incidentally. Always keen to see him through!)

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Today's Results

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Monte Carlo Rolex Masters (Monte Carlo)

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Novak Djokovic def. Oscar Hernandez, 6-1 6-2

Andy Murray def. Victor Hanescu, 6-3 6-2

Andreas Beck def. Gilles Simon, 7-5 6-1

Juan Monaco def. Tommy Robredo, 6-2 6-4

Janko Tipsarevic def. Gael Monfils, 6-3 6-1

David Nalbandian def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4 3-6 6-3

Albert Montanes def. Nicolas Almagro, 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 7-6 (7-5)

Fabio Fognini def. Tomas Berdych 1-6 6-3 6-3

Jean-Rene Lisnard def. Christophe Rochus, 6-2 6-2

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Igor Andreev, 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2

David Ferrer def. Feliciano Lopez, 6-2 6-3

Ivo Karlovic def. Florent Serra, 6-4 6-4

Marat Safin def. Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4 7-5

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Family Circle Cup (Charleston)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Rossana de los Ríos, 6-3 6-2

Marion Bartoli def. Anastasija Sevastova, 6-1 6-3

Dominika Cibulkova def. Tamira Paszek, 6-4 6-0

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Abigail Spears, 6-3 4-6 6-0

Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Mariana Duque Marino, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

Shenay Perry def. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 7-5 6-1

Sabine Lisicki def. Marie-Ève Pelletier, 7-5 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-0 6-2

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Angela Haynes, 6-4 5-7 6-0

Akgul Amanmuradova def. Alexandra Stevenson, 6-2 6-4

Sania Mirza def. Sesil Karatantcheva, 6-4 6-4

Viktoriya Kutuzova def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-1

Stéphanie Dubois def. Katie O'Brien, 4-6 6-2 6-1

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Barcelona Ladies' Open (Barcelona)

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Masa Zec Peskiric def. Kaia Kanepi, 3-6 6-2 6-4

Carla Suárez Navarro def. Estrella Cabeza Candela, 6-2 6-0

Maria Kirilenko def. Camille Pin, 6-2 6-0

Anastasiya Yakimova def. Sorana Cirstea, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5)

Francesca Schiavone def. Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

María José Martínez Sánchez def. Kirsten Flipkens, 6-2 6-2

Nicole Vaidisova def. Yevgenia Savranska, 6-2 6-4

Severine Brémond def. Anna-Lena Groenefeld, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2

Tatjana Malek def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-3 3-6 6-1

Emilie Loit def. Mervana Jugic-Salkic, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-2