2014 Marquee Clay Schedules: Follow Nadal, Djokovic And Federer On The Road To Roland Garros
The “Road To Roland Garros” kicked off this week with two appetizer-sized stops in Houston and Casablanca. The main course, however, begins next week with the Big Three of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and late wildcard entrant Roger Federer battling in Monte Carlo.
The 32-year-old Federer hasn’t played the event since 2011 and with all his match play already this year and his mantra of keeping a healthy schedule, it was a surprise he’d add an event here. But he must feel really great!
Nadal will again be under immense ranking pressure have to defending titles in Barcelona, Madrid and Rome plus a final in Monte Carlo and of course the French. If he stumbles the door could be open for Novak to regain No. 1 before the French Open. There’s about a 2,000 point difference between the two and with three 1,000 Masters Series events on tap, it’s more than mathematically possible. But we are talking about Nadal here, so go against him at your own peril. So more than likely any change could come in Paris where I give Djokovic a very real chance to win it this year.
Andy Murray opted to not play in Monte Carlo to further rest and recovery from a busy first three months. The Lendl-less Murray will make his clay debut in Madrid.
While I don’t see Federer or Murray creating much of a stir on the weekends unless their draws open up, I’m interested to see guys like Marin Cilic, Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis and Alexandr Dolgopolov who are all capable of early round upsets. So those are just a few of the danger guys.
And also keep an eye on Stan Wawrinka. Clay is his best surface and let’s see if the change will break him out of his post-Australian funk. Or maybe being in Europe, on the dirt will increase the expectations.
Looking ahead to next week in Monte Carlo, I think it’s critical that Nadal come away with a win there. If somehow Djokovic beats him again in that final, then things will get real interesting the rest of the way. Otherwise I think Nadal will grab at least three titles going into the French (if that back flares up might he cut an event?).
With that said, here’s a breakdown of where they’ll be playing this clay season leading up to the French Open:
Nadal(4): Apr 13 – Monte Carlo, Apr 21 – Barcelona, May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
Djokovic (3): Apr 13 – Monte Carlo, May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
Murray (2): May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
Federer (3): Apr 13 – Monte Carlo, May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
Ferrer (4): Apr 13 – Monte Carlo, Apr 21 – Barcelona, May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
Wawrinka (4): Apr 13 – Monte Carlo, Apr 28 – Munich, May 4 – Madrid, May 11 – Rome
By Week:
Apr 7 (Houston, Casablanca)
Hewitt, Almagro, Isner, Robredo (Houston)
Anderson, Paire (Casablanca)
Apr 14 (Monte Carlo)
Nadal, Ferrer, Djokovic, Federer
Apr 21 (Barcelona, Bucharest)
Nadal, Ferrer, Berdych, Nishikori, Raonic, Almagro (Barcelona)
Simon, Tipsarevic, Monfils, Seppi (Bucharest)
Apr 28 (Munich, Estoril)
Wawrinka, Raonic, Paire, Tursunov (Estoril)
Haas, Fognini, Monfils (Munich)
May 4 (Madrid)
Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Ferrer
May 12 (Rome)
Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Federer, Ferrer
May 18 (Dusseldorf, Nice)
Tipsarevic, Monaco, Kohlschreiber, Davydenko (Dusseldorf)
Roanic, Gulbis, Isner, Simon (Nice)
May 25 (French Open)
Everyone!
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