MONTE-CARLO ATP Masters 1000- 12-19 Apr. 2009

[cucio]

So what's the record now, 120-2 or something? We are used to it and our senses are a bit numbed, but that level of domination of one surface is totally unreal.

 

[The-Champ]

Rafa has been very streaky this week. He needs to get his ass back to pratice sessions.

 

[muzza123]

^^ we can't expect RG 08 standard at Monte Carlo. Yes he has suffered from concentration lapses and lost leads when a break up, but he is stil trying to get the feel back and even in those poor games he won 6-3.

 

[rafan]

Rafa has been very streaky this week. He needs to get his ass back to pratice sessions.

I have to admit I was a bit worried about his service games - was anyone else?

 

[ruerooo]

i guess you're right, i don't know the schedule and these commentators have been wrong before....

As it turns out, I have the dates a bit wrong. Barca starts the 20th. Rome starts the 27th.

I'm still not sure they'd want 5-set masters, though.

 

[gj011]

Djokovic/Troicki won the first set against Bhupathi/Knowles, so Novak might be in the SF in doubles too.

 

[gj011]

Djokovic/Troicki defeated Bhupathi/Knowles 6-4 4-6 12-10

So there is going to be one all Serbian SF

Doubles SFs:
Djokovic/Troicki - Zimonjic/Nestor
Bryan/Bryan - Dlouhy/Paes

 

[cucio]

^^ Impressive.

 

[Leublu tennis]

Djokovic/Troicki defeated Bhupathi/Knowles 6-4 4-6 12-10

So there is going to be one all Serbian SF

Doubles SFs:
Djokovic/Troicki - Zimonjic/Nestor
Bryan/Bryan - Dlouhy/Paes

Isn't it amazing? Bhupathi/Knowles are the #3 ranked team in the world. Whats next for this new dynamic due? Surely not a win against Zimonjic/Nestor who are ranked #9.

 

[seffina]

They can do it. You know, the doubles specialists have been losing a lot this year.

 

[oscar_2424]

still waiting for my avatar...

 

[shadows]

doubles specialists aren't all they should be these days imo >_>

great run for Djokovic and Troicki though, really won't surprise me if they at least make the finals!

 

[cucio]

Last year Nadal and Robredo took this tourney, and Nadal was tearing through the singles draw at the same time, so doubles wasn't even his main focus. I guess in the end individual skills count more than teamwork if the gap is wide enough, and it definitely is between a top 10 and a top 50 kind of player.

 

[Leublu tennis]

Nadal happens to be a very good doubles player. Current rank #72 and has 5 doubles titles. Djokovic, by comparison, has no titles and is ranked #552. Thats why Djokovic's accomplishment so far is so amazing.

 

[Leublu tennis]

Weather forecast for the next three days: showers, showers, showers.

 

[gj011]

Weather forecast for the next three days: showers, showers, showers.

Where did you see that? It does not look so bad here:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/mcxx0000

Although here looks worse:

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day...k&cm_cat=citypage&cm_ite=weather&cm_pla=10day

 

[Love Game]

RESULTS for Friday

Friday, 17 April, 2009

Singles - Quarter-finals
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [WC] I Ljubicic (CRO) 63 63
[3] N Djokovic (SRB) d [7] F Verdasco (ESP) 62 46 63
[13] S Wawrinka (SUI) d [Q] A Beck (GER) 62 64
[4] A Murray (GBR) vs [8] N Davydenko (RUS)

Singles - Third Round
[1] R Nadal (ESP) d [Q] N Lapentti (ECU) 63 60
[4] A Murray (GBR) d [Q] F Fognini (ITA) 76(11) 64
[8] N Davydenko (RUS) d [12] D Nalbandian (ARG) 64 57 63
[WC] I Ljubicic (CRO) d S Bolelli (ITA) 75 76(2)

Doubles - Second Round
[4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) d F Lopez (ESP) / F Verdasco (ESP) 64 64

Doubles - Quarter-finals
[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) d [6] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) 46 62 10-4
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d M Cilic (CRO) / N Kiefer (GER) 67(3) 64 10-8
[3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d [7] J Knowle (AUT) / A Ram (ISR) 76(3) 63
N Djokovic (SRB) / V Troicki (SRB) d [4] M Bhupathi (IND) / M Knowles (BAH) 64 46 12-10

​

 

[Leublu tennis]

Dlouhy/Paes take the first set off the Bryans 7-6

 

[Leublu tennis]

Where did you see that? It does not look so bad here:

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/mcxx0000

Although here looks worse:

http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day...k&cm_cat=citypage&cm_ite=weather&cm_pla=10day

Yahoo weather. Its usually pretty good. I check Molodva forecast all the time. But the Bryans are playing, so I guess its O.K.

 

[Zaragoza]

Dlouhy/Paes take the first set off the Bryans 7-6

Are you watching? How is the weather today?

 

[Leublu tennis]

Are you watching? How is the weather today?

Nope. I have 5 streams and not a single one is showing the doubles. They never do. But all are set for the Djokovic match which should start in about an hour.

 

[SikSerb]

Nope. I have 5 streams and not a single one is showing the doubles. They never do. But all are set for the Djokovic match which should start in about an hour.

And that is exactly what im waiting for in the next hour. Should be good.

 

[Leublu tennis]

You bet. A very important match for both players. Djokovic needs to keep improving his game and Wawrinka would really move up in the standings if he got into the finals. I don't expect either player to take out Nadal. Not in this tournament.

 

[Leublu tennis]

Bryans and Dlouhy/Paes are in set 3 at 10-10. Very, very close match.

 

[Leublu tennis]

And that is exactly what im waiting for in the next hour. Should be good.

Going to church tonight?

 

[Leublu tennis]

Bryans 14-12 in the third set. Rats. I would have preferred that Djokovic/Troicki play Dlouhy/Paes and not the Bryans. Of course thats after they knock off Nestor/Zimonjic. Right?

 

[SikSerb]

Going to church tonight?

Yes I will be. You?

 

[Leublu tennis]

Yes I will be. You?

Yes. Its a beautiful day here. Warm. Should be thousands of people outside the main cathedral. We usually manage to sneak in through a side door that they open because it gets hot and end up near the president's family and party. Usually get on tv because of that.

 

[gj011]

Anyone have a stream for Djokovic/Troicki vs Zimonjic/Nestor match.

No one seems to be showing doubles

 

[shadows]

no one ever does outside of slams/dc sadly D:

 

[rafan]

I don't know why they don't give more credit to doubles matches. The times I used to play doubles was like being in a war zone some of the time, with balls wizzing past and landing in some very tender places

 

[cucio]

Post-match interviews, for your dissecting pleasure. Including Nadal's musings about Djok's clay ranking:

http://montecarlo.masters-series.com/2/en/players/interviews/default.asp

 

[Love Game]

Post-match interviews, for your dissecting pleasure. Including Nadal's musings about Djok's clay ranking:

http://montecarlo.masters-series.com/2/en/players/interviews/default.asp

oh darn, he didnt say who was no. 2
(but then rafa's probably too classy to do that)

http://montecarlo.masters-series.com/2/en/players/interviews/stories/09_nadal8.asp

 

[Blinkism]

Interesting interview. I think Nadal's too hard on his serve. He needs to work on his returns and on his depth, he put way too many balls short against Murray and Djokovic, and it made life harder for him.

He'll figure that out in Barcelona against an easier draw with less pressure. Seems like a good place to practice and get back into his clay-court groove. He'll be 100% by Rome, hopefully!

Good tourney overall for Rafa. He got to test his mettle against Murray and Djoker; the new threats on clay. And as a bonus, he finally erased the only active winning record against him on clay (Lapentti 1 - Nadal 0, from 2003). Just another notch in the belt for the King of Clay.

 

[gj011]

Also to mention that Zimonjic and Nestor won the doubles title beating Bryans 6-4 6-1.

 

[Love Game]

Also to mention that Zimonjic and Nestor won the doubles title beating Bryans 6-4 6-1.

congrats to nestor and zimonjic ...

... truth, gj ... is nestor serbian?

 

[seffina]

Good for Bryans to make it to the finals. Congrats to Nestor and Zimonjic for their win!

Overall, I enjoyed Monte Carlo the most of the Masters tournys so far this year. It just has a different feel to it.

 

[Nadal_Freak]

Good for Bryans to make it to the finals. Congrats to Nestor and Zimonjic for their win!

Overall, I enjoyed Monte Carlo the most of the Masters tournys so far this year. It just has a different feel to it.

Beautiful colored court and extremely exciting rallys due to the slow surface probably is the reason why. Everything else was on boring hardcourts full of baseline bashers.

 

[Zaragoza]

5th crown for Nadal in Monte Carlo and 14th Masters of his career, a great start of the clay season.
Some ups and downs in his game but that's usual with Nadal, he hasn't played worse than last year in Monte Carlo when he had some tough moments against Ferrer and Federer. Roland Garros 2008 was unbelievable, don't expect him to play like that in every clay tournament.
Winning majors and Masters shields on clay is always tough, it doesn't matter how good you are, there will always be some tough moments playing against the best in the world. I think many people see Nadal's clay titles as a routine and don't appreciate how tough it is, maybe they will realize the day Nadal stops winning.
Does anyone know what players (if any) won the same Masters shield 5 times like Nadal did in Monte Carlo?

 

[Zaragoza]

Good for Bryans to make it to the finals. Congrats to Nestor and Zimonjic for their win!

Overall, I enjoyed Monte Carlo the most of the Masters tournys so far this year. It just has a different feel to it.

Agreed, Monte Carlo clearly won the battle against the ATP.

 

[veroniquem]

5th crown for Nadal in Monte Carlo and 14th Masters of his career, a great start of the clay season.
Some ups and downs in his game but that's usual with Nadal, he hasn't played worse than last year in Monte Carlo when he had some tough moments against Ferrer and Federer. Roland Garros 2008 was unbelievable, don't expect him to play like that in every clay tournament.
Winning majors and Masters shields on clay is always tough, it doesn't matter how good you are, there will always be some tough moments playing against the best in the world. I think many people see Nadal's clay titles as a routine and don't appreciate how tough it is, maybe they will realize the day Nadal stops winning.
Does anyone know what players (if any) won the same Masters shield 5 times like Nadal did in Monte Carlo?

I could read your signature all day!!
As far as I know, the record in open era is Agassi who won Miami master 6 times (but not consecutive), noone else had won a master more than 4 times. Rafa is the only (male) player to have ever won a master 5 consecutive times. Congrats to him for this new record!