I am in Monte Carlo and i would like to share some photos and videos. By the way Nadal seems amazing. He hits the ball like no one else believe me.

I have uploaded on YouTube a few videos and will be uploading more in the next days as the tournament unfolds with matches highlights and players practices. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdIlw4fL1j8&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI8chRYPJtY&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyvtqBKk7EU&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPKatP3JNdM&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az_xg61O1-Y

April 13th, 2010 at 5:58 am

OMG, Cilic is having huge problems with that andreev FH. Cilic in huge danger to be bumbed out early..c’mon cilic

April 13th, 2010 at 7:17 am

cilic breaks back..but still very shacky on his service game

April 13th, 2010 at 7:20 am

aah cilic broken again..what the…?

April 13th, 2010 at 7:24 am

crazy match, andreev seem not wanting to win. cilic breaks back

April 13th, 2010 at 7:29 am

That Cilic-Andreev match was not interesting at all. Cilic better play better in his next match otherwise it will be goodbye time.

April 13th, 2010 at 7:37 am

cilic wins..what a battle…almost lost it. well, congratulations but needs to play much better next.

April 13th, 2010 at 7:37 am

So who else has Todd Martin coached aside from Novak and Mardy Fish? Results on those coaching jobs don’t look very good on his resume.

About Murray, when I learned that Corretja was coaching him, I felt worried for him. For some reason, fair or not, I associate Corretja with the word “loser”. Maybe it was that match at the US Open with Sampras. He also failed to win the only major final he reached, and on his favorite surface at that.

April 13th, 2010 at 7:43 am

Generally, the best players(grand slam winners) don’t get into coaching either because they aren’t interested in going through the tour rigors or they won’t be that good. They may dabble in it like Wilander. Connors or even Ivanisevic, but how successful have they been? This is true for other sports as well where the best coaches spent their playing days in the shadows of the greats in football or basketball. How many slams do Stefanki, Brett, Gilbert, Pilic, Cahill, Norman or Davin have? What’s more important is their track record/resume as a coach developing/improving players and that their personality will mesh with the player.

People’s concern about Corretja coaching Murray may be valid, but not because he has never won a grand slam. The question should be has he ever taken a player and brought him to the next level like winning a grand slam? I’m pretty sure every coach I mentioned above never won a grand slam, but they coached someone who did except for Norman who has helped Soderling improve tremendously and make it to his 1st grand slam final.

April 13th, 2010 at 8:54 am

Kimmi – it looks like all the players you were rooting for have made it through: Cilic, Hotsauce, Baggy – and Tsonga’s on now. Exciting.

April 13th, 2010 at 10:31 am

Tsonga and Almagro have been in a war since the 1st game. Almagro is 0 for 7 on break points.

April 13th, 2010 at 10:35 am

Baggy has not won yet. He could not convert any of the 8 BPs in the first set. Montanes is serving for the set.

April 13th, 2010 at 10:46 am

Oops – you’re right BB. Looks like both Nico and Baggy aren’t cashing in on their break point chances. Thanks for correcting me.

April 13th, 2010 at 10:49 am

Tsonga has stepped it up and won the set. He will most likely win the match. Nico could not take advantage of the break chances he had. He is playing great tennis but in important moments he has faltered. He just lacks that tiny bit extra champions possess.

April 13th, 2010 at 11:00 am

Useless fist pumps by Almagro. It looks ridiculous when a player celebrates when he wins a point but not even the game yet. It just happened to Almagro again. Poor guy. He stops constructing points whenever he goes ahead. He simply does not have it in him to win big matches.

April 13th, 2010 at 11:11 am

At last a gr8 first set!
Cilic showed horrible lack of match play, I thought. Like Andy will, probably.
Polo@ 12.30: I so agree with you re Gasquet, on song he’s wonderful to watch. Reminds me a little of Fed, in so far often his beautiful play looks effortless. Can’t believe he’s slipped down to something like 79? However, I did read somewhere that he’s said that he doesn’t want the pressure of being a top 10 player.
MMT: I’m pretty sure Corretja doesn’t travel with Andy. Don’t think he was at AO. In fact, I’m farly sure, initially in Australia Andy trimmed the team right down and just took Miles and his physio.

April 13th, 2010 at 11:12 am

margot that’s what I thought re: Corretja; I assumed he was just around during the clay season. Sometimes, less is more. But if he can help Andy hone his clay game, then more power to him!

April 13th, 2010 at 11:30 am

Well played Tdonga! BTW are those darling little pearls in his ears??
jane: re therapy, u 4got Andyitis in our list of woes, it’s an overwhelming compulsion to leave all tournaments in the VERY EARLY stages…

April 13th, 2010 at 11:47 am

oops, Tsonga even…

April 13th, 2010 at 11:47 am

Corretja will be to Andy as Martin was to Novak.

April 13th, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Hasn’t Corretja been working with Murray since early last year? I think he’s done a good job so far considering Murray’s clay season last year. A couple of good showings in the Masters and a QF at the French is pretty good.

April 13th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

OMG Berdych is trampling all over Gasquet. Come on Richard!

April 13th, 2010 at 12:14 pm

Yeah it looks like Almagro and Baghdatis had the same problem. They couldn’t win any of the big points.

April 13th, 2010 at 12:17 pm

I gave up on Baghdatis after he beat Federer then lost to an ailing Robredo in the next match. That tells me that his win over Federer was nothing but a fluke.

April 13th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Well, that was a bit of a massacre. Berdych looking very impressive indeed.

April 13th, 2010 at 1:03 pm

That was not the Gasquet I saw yesterday. But that was the Berdych I have been watching since the Miami tournament. Hope he continues to play at this high level. I am starting to enjoy his game.

Margot, I am inclined to believe what you read about Gasquet not wanting the pressure of being a top ten player. That match affirmed that. He need not worry do because he seems like he is not getting into the top ten in the near future…or ever. But I will still watch his every game for the chance that he might display that beautiful game of his.

April 13th, 2010 at 1:14 pm

Wow it seems like Berdych is serious about becoming a top player. Crushing his early opponents, no matter how talented or how French, is a good way to start. Better late than never. Maybe by the US Open he’ll be considered a legitimate contender? Hopefully.

April 13th, 2010 at 2:23 pm

Ben: “no matter how good or how French”!!nice one!
Polo: I’ll watch him too cos every so often he is marvellous.

April 13th, 2010 at 4:54 pm

aha! tsonga! almagro was a tough opponent for first round and he goes thru with flying colours. I am happy for him..now all the way to the qtrs where there will be a re-match with rafa..anything can happen..Go Tsonga!

did you guys know, this year is Tsonga debut at monte carlo..I could not believe when i heard that..a top 10/20 players for a long time NEVER played in MC..poor Tsonga with his injuries. This year he is looking good and his defence game is getting better and better. Keep it up man!

gasquet, oh dear! just manage 2 games. OK berdych is on fire but phuleeeeeze!

NELTA, good day for seeds today too. So your challenge must not be too bad…I know you took a risk with almagro but i am glad it did not happen. bagdatis must have destroyed a lot of draw challenges out there..what is up with him?

Tomorrow we have the big boys!

April 13th, 2010 at 5:50 pm

margot: I have faith on murray. Tomorrow is a tough one for sure but IF he goes thru that one..watch for Murray to regroup and start gaining confidence.

he had sometime to think what happened since AO…
ok, its sad.. he did not win but he should move on. He knows his ranking points have been hit hard and this is where he should steady the ship. He is taking this issue very serious and will make sure things are back to normal as soon as possible.

you see margot…everything should be OK for murray soon, I can feel it.. Fingers and toes crossed!

Go Murray!

April 13th, 2010 at 6:04 pm

Since my favorite isn’t playing this week (Roger)….I will pull for my next favorite: Go Stan!!!!! I know, he just won his 2nd title last week but he’s never won a Master’s event so I’m pulling for him to do well.

And I think the folks need to drop that “baby Fed” from Gasquet’s name. If he said he doesn’t like the pressure of being a top 10 player, then that’s been his problem since folks had labeled him “baby Fed” for a long time! lol!

April 13th, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Almagro did hurt my draw, but fortunately I picked the scrappy Spaniard Montanes over Baghy. I picked Ferrero over a potential matchup with Almagro so now that Nico is out I need Ferrero to beat Becker tomorrow then Tsonga. Ferrero and his coach were in the stands watching some of the Tsonga/Almagro match today. I hope he isn’t looking past Becker. I doubt it. JC has been doing this for a long time.

April 13th, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Fot: Stan vs Gulbis tomorrow!

Gulbis has been playing better recently, he is starting to play good on big matches. He demolished Chiudinelli..another swiss in his first round.

btw what are the chance of playing 2 swiss in the same tournament? If federer was playing and gulbis goes on to play federer after beating stan..that would be sooo spooky! ha ha ! (federer would be #1 seed where Djoko is in the draw)

i hope Gulbis does well here..soo goo gulbis!

April 13th, 2010 at 6:28 pm

NELTA, I like your confidende..but c’moon don’t take Tsonga out please! Tsonga all the way to the Qtrs!

Good picking montanes..no way would I have got that right. That baggy win over fed made me give him more respect than he deserve maybe…

April 13th, 2010 at 6:32 pm

Kimmi,

I picked Montanes over Baghy for the same reason I picked Almagro over Tsonga. They both have superior clay court records and have won tournaments on clay, but never on hard court. Tsonga and Baghy are the exact opposite. They both have titles on hard court, but none on clay.

April 13th, 2010 at 6:41 pm

NELTA@ 6:41pm: Here is my theory!

that situation can work well if the ranking of both players is kind of close. For example. Baggy is ranked 31. montanes is 33..here montanes has a chance due to his clay pedigree.

But in the case of Tsonga vs Almagro, I feel it is more riskier imo. Tsonga is a top 10 player while Almagro is 34. In this case a top 10 player will always be favored unless they are on a bad form. Tsonga form has been very good till now, he is lost only to players ranked higher than him this year if I remember correctly.

Even though he has not won a title on clay, he is still a better players overall, whi is on a very good form.

April 13th, 2010 at 6:56 pm

I agree Kimmi. There comes a point where the clay won’t be enough of a factor. Baggy isn’t carrying over many points from last year.(He was in the 150s) so his ranking right now is lower than his level of play. If he continues like he has for the rest of the year he should have more than 2200 points which would be 15-20 in the rankings. I do consider him to be a better player than Montanes even though their ranking is almost the same right now. Baggy should beat him on hard, grass and indoor. I felt Montanes’ comfort on the clay would give him the edge even though Baghdatis has been the better player this year.

Almagro was a bit of a stretch, but they played such a close match at the AO I figured the clay would give Almagro enough of an edge to pull out the win. He had plenty of chances as Tsonga’s serve wasn’t nearly as effective on clay, but he could only convert 1 break chance out of something like 10.

April 13th, 2010 at 8:43 pm

NELTA: True about baghy. I was very surprised with the results thinking something must have been wrong. 6-4 6-2 to montanes is as bad as it can get..clay or not.

I understand that its not easy to play this challenge game. I think I will do really bad..i hope we don’t get situations like IW and Miami, no one can predict that..;)

I agree about Tsonga v alamgro match at the AO. It was very close. Tsonga was leading 2 sets to love though before almagro came back. I guess if this was a 5 setter maybe it would have gone the distance.

If i was playing, tomorrow i would go mostly with seeding. The seeds or higher ranked players looks more solid to me. If i had to pick an upset

would probably stretch a Gulbis win vs wawrinka

I wanted to give nalbandian a chance but after checking their H2H…2-0 in favour of Youznhy, I don’t think so.

Murray vs kohl – (i guess we should not bring emotions in this game) i am hoping murray wins but this match makes me veeeery nervous.

April 13th, 2010 at 9:27 pm

Since Baghdatis losing is one of the only significant picks I have gotten right in the ATP challenge game (and Baghy is one of my three favorite players along with Fed and Blake), I looked up his career clay court results a few minutes ago because I was surprised anyone could be surprised at him getting hammered by Montanes.

Baghdatis’ career record in European ATP clay court events is 10-13. He sucks on clay. Always has. Meanwhile, Montanes won Estoril last year. No surprise in that result at all.

April 14th, 2010 at 12:20 am