Number 9 no certainty for modest Nadal

Rafael Nadal has played down his chances of winning a ninth Monte Carlo Masters title in a row, stating "everything in life finishes sometime".
The Spaniard has won 42 consecutive matches in Monaco and is well fancied to continue that run into next year.

Nadal goes into this year's event on a high after an excellent comeback from a serious knee injury. He has performed as if he has never been away in winning tournaments in Sao Paulo, Acapulco and Indian Wells....

Philip Oliver

Berdych scrapes through as Barcelona Open begins

World number six Tomas Berdych was given a going over by Nikolay Davydenko at the Barcelona Open before eventually seeing him off 3-6 7-5 6-4 to secure a spot in the last 16.

Berdych is seeded three at the Real Club de Tenis and so had a bye into the second round, but looked out-of-sorts against his Russian opponent.
He saw his serve broken twice in the first set, allowing Davydenko to move into the lead.

The 27-year-old dug deep to turn things around in the...

Philip Oliver

End of an era as Nadal slips up on clay

Sure as day follows night and spring follows winter, Rafael Nadal would sweep up during the clay court tennis season – until now.

The Spaniard saw his mammoth 46-match winning streak at the Monte Carlo Masters blown away by world number Novak Djokovic in a performance that suggests a sea change is afoot at the top of the men’s game.

There are, of course, extenuating circumstances, Nadal has been sidelined for seven months thanks to niggling injury problems in both...

Philip Oliver

Djokovic can Win the French Open Now

If Novak Djokovic proved anything last Sunday is was that he can win the French Open crown this summer as a shocked Monte Carlo Masters crowd looked on while he dismantled clay king Rafael Nadal.

Djokovic, playing in only his fifth tournament of the season, must have known the scale of the challenge ahead of him. Nadal had won all eight previous Monte Carlo titles and with two clay trophies on his mantelpiece already this season was clear favourite in the betting world to clinch another....

Philip Oliver

Murray to Impress at Monte Carlo

British number one, Andy Murray, is a clear frontrunner with Betfair tennis to win the Monte Carlo Masters this weekend, alongside clay specialists, Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer.

Murray, 25, has never reached the final of Monaco’s illustrious ATP event and was dumped out of the last eight to Tomas Berdych last season. However, he is targeting the title this year as a means of steeling himself for the French Open, which is now less than two months away.

If Murray is...

Philip Oliver