Sport360°'s tennis expert Reem Abulleil offers her thoughts on the major talking points from the ATP and WTA Tours this past week…
The clay swing gathers steam this week in Monaco where most of the top players are taking part in the Monte Carlo Masters, which I believe should be renamed the Rafael Nadal Masters when the Spaniard eventually retires.
Nadal is gunning for a mind-blowing ninth consecutive title in the principality. His reign in Monte Carlo has been going on for so long that no other active player has ever won the title there.
So it’s beyond me how the Mallorcan can once again state that he is not the favourite in a place where he boasts a 44-1 record, has won eight straight times and has beaten the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Guillermo Coria and David Ferrer in finals.
Nadal is so overwhelmingly dominant in Monte Carlo that Federer doesn’t even bother to stop by the tournament anymore.
The Swiss’ three final losses to his nemesis in 2006, 2007 and 2008 were more than enough for him to get the picture and I believe it’s time Nadal quit his self-deprecating ways and owned up to the fact that on clay and especially at the Monte Carlo Country Club, he will always be the favourite.
THUMBS UP – Roberta Vinci
The 30-year-old Italian continues to put all the players complaining about the tour schedule to shame. Ranked No12 in singles and No1 in doubles, Vinci just captured her first singles title of the year – to add to the three doubles titles she’s already picked up in the last three months – by upsetting world No8 Petra Kvitova in Katowice, Poland.
She’s taken her career tally to eight singles titles and 19 doubles, and now has a superb 8-1 record in singles finals.
CRUEL MOMENT – Igor Andreev
Andreev, a former world No18, played his first match of the season after battling a shoulder injury for almost a year now. But he got no mercy from Germany’s Daniel Brands, who handed the Russian a double bagel in the first round of qualies in Monte Carlo.
FEEL-GOOD MOMENT
After dropping in the rankings to as low as No471 due to a leg injury last season, former world No5 Tommy Robredo captured his first ATP title in over two years by defeating Kevin Anderson 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3 in the Casablanca final on Sunday. Sweet comeback, Tommy!
WEEK AHEAD
The ladies are in Fed Cup action where Italy host defending champions Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic visit Russia while the men play on the clay of Monte Carlo.
Federer and Ferrer headline the absentee list with Djokovic also a potential withdrawal if his ankle doesn’t heal before Wednesday.
READ MORE:
– Nadal out to prolong Monte Carlo dominance a little longer
– OPINION: Federer and Nadal absence highlights dearth of emerging talent in ATP
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