I'm sure everyone is shocked to be having a Nadal-Djokovic Monte Carlo final (note major sarcasm!). Before the tournament started my attitude was almost like "why even watch - we already know who is going to win." However, along the with the most gorgeous view in tennis, there have also been some tantalizing matches, along with some drama to make things interesting.
Djokovic began his trip to the final very slowly, dropping the first set in his second and third matches. There was much speculation on how his ankle was really healing (leftover from his impressive win in Davis Cup after twisting it in the first set). Was it the injury causing the problem, or was he just having a hard adjustment to clay? In each of those matches, however, once he got through the error prone first set he was able to pull away and win easily. Eight time champion Nadal, on the other hand, began strong in his first couple matches, only to be really pushed in his quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov, dropping his first set in Monte Carlo in many years. And very surprisingly in his semifinal against Tsonga, after a 6-3 first set he was up 5-1 in the second, looking like an incredibly routine win, when Tsonga mounted a comeback, breaking the King of Clay two times as he served for the match, saving match points along the way. However, the luck ended there, with Nadal taking it in straight sets in a tiebreak. I have to admit I was quite surprised, however, to see Rafa twice broken in what looked to be a routine win.
Some other noteworthy matches through the week were the Wawrinka-Murray match, where Murray only managed to win three games! Looks like some work is needed with Mr. Lendl. Jarko Niemenen played some impressive matches, showing some of his best tennis at 31 years old. In his quarterfinal match against Del Potro there were some incredible points played with amazing defense against what looked like sure winners. After two incredibly physical matches in a row, however (he also won a three-setter against Raonic in impressive fashion) he didn't have much left against Djokovic. He will definitely be one to watch in the upcoming clay season, however.
As for the drama, how about the match between Gulbis and Monaco where Gulbis had already been warned about his behavior so many times that when he decided to slam his racquet against the umpire's chair on his way past he was penalized not just a point but in an entire game. Get a hold of yourself Ernie!! And what about the story that Matosevic, while playing Rafael Nadal, decided to see what would happen if he kicked over Rafa's water bottles on his way past? In spite of Nadal's compulsive behavior to carefully arrange his bottles just so on each changeover, he was able to just laugh it off while looking to his box. What would the tennis world be without a little drama?
So who is the favorite in the final? Hard to say that Nadal isn't, having won it eight times in a row, but I don't want to write off the world #1, who totally had Rafa's number in the 2011 season, beating him a couple times even on the clay. I won't hide the fact that I would love to see Djokovic begin to challenge him once again, with Rafa having won three title already since his comeback, but I'm not holding my breath.
I'm afraid I have been slacking a bit on blog posts lately. I still follow all the tennis going on as closely as I can, but with all the little tournaments it's just a bit harder to find the excitement level to write about it. It doesn't help when much of it isn't televised live, and watching it live on the computer at uncomfortable hours often isn't an option (unless it's a certain guy by the name of Roger Federer). Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch any of the Tsonga-Berdych match, though that would have been a good one and I was happy to see that Tsonga had won, saving two match points in the process. I was disappointed to miss all but the last few games of the Ferrer-Wawrinka match due to a prior commitment. I was glad Stan was able to take a set, but in the end Ferrer was just too strong on clay.
I did follow pretty closely the women's tournament in Dubai, however, and enjoyed seeing some good tennis. I was glad to see Caroline Wozniacki playing well again, though she just didn't have enough against Petra Kvitova, who was really on her game. The final against Kvitova and Erani was one of those really strange matches where one set looked completely different from the next, with the scoreline being 6-2 1-6 6-1. Kvitova is just one of those players where, when things are working for her, she is almost impossible to beat. Some of the winners she hits are just bullets through the court with not the slightest chance of being returned. But when things go off, they really go off. It was good to see her winning another title after some struggles for a while to find her real game.
I also was able to watch the semis and final of the ATP Memphis tournament. Kei Nishikori played some brilliant tennis against Feli Lopez, seeming to get back almost everything Lopez threw at him and hitting just punishing shots to win his 3rd career title. It was the semifinal Lopez played against Istomin, however, that was more intriguing to me, particularly the end. It was match point for Lopez and he hit what both he and his opponent thought was an ace. They both came to the net and had shaken hands when the chair umpire finally got their attention to tell them the serve was a let. It has been 40-15 and Lopez went on to lose the next three points. I was getting pretty nervous for him that he was going to get broken and potentially go on to lose the match after already having celebrated his victory. However, he held his nerve and managed to come back to win the game and the match. Though I'm sure he is disappointed to lose in the final, that is still so much better than losing in the semi when he thought he had it won. I had never seen that situation happen before.
And now on to the really important stuff - Roger Federer is in Dubai getting prepared to try to defend his title from last year, not to mention that he has won here five times already. Hopefully being back in the warm climate again after the cold in Rotterdam, and being back with his family again will up his game and produce his first title of 2013. Of course, Novak Djokovic, will have something to say about this. It will be Novak's first tournament back in action since Australia and he will be anxious to re-solidify his #1 ranking.
I was encouraged by a couple of the things Roger had to say to the media in the last week, one of them being: "I strongly believe I have more Slams in me." That is something every Fed fan likes to hear because no matter how much we believe in him, he also needs to have the belief himself that he can still win out in a major over his younger competitors. He also said this about whether he could return to #1 again: ''Absolutely realistic, if you play great." Here's hoping that he can start that playing great pattern this week in Dubai and show that he is still fully in there.
