The Monte Carlo Rolex Masters draw is out, and thus begins the European clay season.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal has a bye in the first round, and will face the winner of the match between two Brits – Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans.
Our champ could face Alexander Zverev in the third round, prior to a quarter-final against Grigor Dimitrov.
Rafa’s potential Monte Carlo route:
- 1st round: Bye
- 2nd round: Edmund or Evans
- 3rd round: Alexander Zverev
- Quarter-final: Grigor Dimitrov
- Semi-final: Novak Djokovic
- Final: Andy Murray
Projected quarter-finals:
- Andy Murray vs Marin Cilic
- Stan Wawrinka vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
- Grigor Dimitrov vs Rafael Nadal
- Dominic Thiem vs Novak Djokovic
Rafa has won 28 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, second only to Djokovic, who has a record 30 pieces of Masters 1000 silverware. Rafa, who beat Gael Monfils in the 2016 final, won a record 46 straight matches at the prestigious tournament from 2005 to 2013 and is 58-4 overall. (via ATP)
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
hi its clay and l hope you do well this season,will be watching you all the way,l will be in mallorca all of june,hope you come back for a visit,so maybe l can see you in your home town l wish,all the very best vamos rafa.
All the best Rafa! Stay aggressive, keep the awesome forehand, balance with the backhand and go for winners!
Rafa, I hope you’re refreshed and ready for battle in Monte Carlo. Can’t wait to watch you. Come on! Aggression, fearlessness and accuracy is what you need to bring home the trophy # 10. Go for it Rafa! ❤️
Te deceo lo mejor del mundo en este año. Eres todo un caballero y estamos muy orgullosos de ti , Los que estamos lejos de España en Australia. Suerte muchacho.
Rafa I trust you have had an enjoyable Easter,
and maybe you do not let everything out about what you are doing like the others.
It is good to keep your own counsel.
All the best for Monte Carlo,
Love and prayers,
AlaineXXSydneyXXAustraliaXX
Vamos Rafa querido tu puedes, buena suerte
There’s an interesting charity exhibition match tomorrow but Rafa won’t play in it. I will still try to watch it though. 🙂
For anyone who cares:
http://montecarlotennismasters.com/exceptional-exhibition-match/?lang=en
Kygios is a bit surprisingly chose to play Estoril in May instead of MC to start the clay season. He said he was tired after the Davis Cup QF tie last week and wanted to be really careful with his body so good for him. He actually has a softer heart than he lets on. You just need to watch him play the DC or doubles/exhibition matches and read what he said about those events to see it :). Definitely NOT missing Fed but I want to see the Kyrgios name on the draw soon, especially now that he has matured quite a lot since the AO17.
The potential finalist from the other half of the draw should be Murray/Wawrinka.
Anyway quite a tough draw for Rafa, starting with probably playing A. Zverev early again in the 3R. The boy loves playing the Greats and shouldn’t be underestimated.
Dimitrov doesn’t play particulary well on clay and he hasn’t maintained his 2.0 version since AO17, but I think he will fire up when facing Rafa in the QF. Rafa has handed him just the confidence he needs when he found himself the worst possible way to lose against a player he had never lost to last year at Beijing, getting broken for five-straight-times – could you ever imagine that? He then admitted he was losing confidence in his FH; made a comeback at the AO winning against a lights out Dimitrov. But once the belief is seeded, it won’t go away anytime soon. Rafa still needs to be really careful.
And of course a SF against Djokovic is as tough as it could be even when he’s not in his best form – plus apparently now that he *really* has a lot to prove, especially with Rafa on a clay tournament draw.
Murray/Wawrinka in the final is not any easy either. Murray probaly still has some injury lingered on, but Wawrinka will be likely to try his best to beat Rafa. He LOVES it. Tbh I was wanting him to play Rafa in the AO17 final so Rafa could have his “revenge” 😈, even if he doesn’t see it that way.
Again, a tough draw for Rafa at the very first clay tourney. Hope he doesn’t overthink and just play confidently and freely. Would be wonderful if he could make a double La Decima this season, beating Novak 😬in the process. 🍀🍀🎾🎾🏆🏆🇪🇸🇪🇸
can you tell me the day and time of his monte carlo match next week?
Last two years Rafa played his first match in Monte-Carlo on Wednesday. Not sure about this year – but is should be Tuesday or Wednesday.
Hmmn…….except that Rafa has not really been practising hard uniike Djokovic who has vowed to reclaim his No 1 ranking as soon as possible.To show his seriousness in achieving this, reliable grapevine reports has it that the Djokovic camp is set to announce the appointment of a new Head Coach, possibly Stefan Edberg, after Monte Carlo. Stefan is being touted to countered the renewed offensive from Roger Federer.
But what is or has Rafa been doing all this while? Any new strategy? Any new plans?
Rafa, on the other hand, has been busy taking photoshoots with TommyHilfer just to wow his fans as if that is all that matters most.
Consequently, we should expect more of the same results from our dear precious Rafa. Expect to hear the same swan song: ”….just congratulate the opponent for me, no. He was better than me, no”
But as always, we’d see…….hmmmn
“..the Djokovic camp is set to announce the appointment of a new Head Coach, possibly Stefan Edberg, after Monte Carlo.”
Maria, where did you read this? I follow his news but haven’t heard absolutely anything about Stefan Edberg.
“But what is or has Rafa been doing all this while? Any new strategy? Any new plans?”
Maria, Novak has always been practicing even harder than Rafa. Apart from his obsession and of course love for the game, he simply hasn’t faced any serious injuries in his whole career and you have to admit he his diet and Yoga also made it possible for him to train that hard AND avoid injuries.
Rafa only recently has been eating “better” as he “finally” listened to some advices from the experts at his academy, hence the slimming down as seen at the end of the year.
Of course we really don’t know how he has been practising and strategising since Miami and we now just have to wait until MC starts. I get your frustration but this part is really over the top:
“Rafa, on the other hand, has been busy taking photoshoots with TommyHilfer just to wow his fans as if that is all that matters most.”
Tbh I agree with you about his flying from home to California for the photo shoot. I think if he definitely needed to do it, just have them fly over to Mallorca like they did for the first campaign.
vamos Rafa,youarethe best again dionysiosfrom crete.
Tough draw but helpful as it will help him gauge his level for the other clay tournaments. VAMOS Rafa 🙂
Good luck and Vamos Rafa. You can do it <3
Q t vaya bien todo el torneo….deseamos lo mejor para ti…y k traigas el decimo titulo….VAMOS CAMPEON D CAMPEONES!!!! Vuelve Rafa Nadal!!!!!!!