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Nadal and Alcaraz Come Out Ahead By Skipping Monte Carlo

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BY JAMES BECK

Rafa Nadal was the smart one. Of course, along with Carlos Alcaraz.

They skipped Monte Carlo.

Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas didn’t. And they took their medicine.

Elimination before the quarterfinals ended.

Jannik Sinner probably is singing the Italian fight song. The tall, thin Italian looks more dangerous every time he step on a tennis court. He just needs to win one of the big ones to possibly take off and fly away with a Grand Slam title.

IS ALCARAZ THE BEST?

Looking at the situation, I would say at this point of the season, Alcaraz probably is the best player in the world, followed by Medvedev and Sinner.

What? No Djokovic or Nadal up top.

If you listen to one of the broadcasters/announcers in Monte Carlo, Djokovic is in a tennis world above everyone else.  After Djokovic’s loss in Monte Carlo, the announcer called Djokovic the “greatest tennis player in history.”

Don’t tell Rod Laver, Roger Federer or Nadal.

Yes, they all are or were great.

WATCH OUT FOR THE TOP 5

Djokovic and Nadal are my Nos. 4s. And Tsitsipas is No. 6.

I expect the top five of those to dominate Europe’s two Grand Slams.

I’m probably not alone.

Of course, there’s Taylor Fritz of the U.S., Andrey Rublev, Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Holger Rune and new threat (Djokovic beater) Lorenzo Musetti waiting around to make their move into the elite group.

That’s a dozen players to watch.

PROPERTY CHANGING HANDS?

The European red clay and grass seasons may no longer be the property of Nadal and Djokovic.

These are new seasons filled with players that still have to make a true mark on the pro tour.

Casper Ruud, along with veteran Grand Slam tournament winners Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka  and Dominic Thiem, and veterans Grigor Dimitrov, Diego Schwartzman, Karen Khachonov, Hubert Hurkacz and even Richard Gasquet are worth an upset or two, but probably not dangerous enough to reach into the last 16.

Of course, it all probably comes back to those top six or better yet top five, four of whom have  won Grand Slam titles within the last two years.

Oh, Oh! Don’t forget Nick Kyrgios.

The most talented guy on the planet can’t be overlooked. That is, if Nick’s injured knee gets the green light in Europe.

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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award as the tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspapers. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.

Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal A Bigger Threat To Win Roland Garros After Monte Carlo Win

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It is the ninth time that Rafael Nadal has won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The win has increased Nadal’s French Open odds. He was crowned champion last Sunday after he won 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 against Gael Monfils in the final. He is now the second favorite to win the championship in Paris. It was an extra special day as Prince Albert II along with Princess Charlene watched from the royal box to see Nadal win a 28th trophy on the ATP tour.

It was the first win for Nadal in nearly two years. The 29-year-old went on a record winning streak of 46 matches unbeaten at the Monte-Carlo Country Club between 2005 – 2012. His run came to an end when Novak Djokovic beat him in the final in 2013.

The win puts Nadal back in the frame for the French Open. His form has suffered in recent years due to injuries and age taking its toll. He showed though at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters that he is back to his best. Many experts are making French Open tennis predictions that he will make the final.

The last time that Nadal won a competition on the APT World Tour was in August 2015. He won in Hamburg beating Fognini in the final.

The final between Nadal and Monfils lasted two-hours and 45 minutes. It was an epic battle and to begin with it looked like Monfils would be victorious. He made great shot selections when it mattered most, and his defensive side of the game was exceptional. Nadal hit his stride though and to pull the victory out of the bag.

Nadal proved he is back to full fitness at long last, and it was his energy that won it for him. Monfils was worn out having to return all of Nadal’s powerful baseline shots. After winning match point, Nadal was extremely emotional falling to his knees. You could tell exactly how much it meant to the player from Spain.

Monfils was graceful after the game saying the better man won on the day. He left Nadal played unbelievably well, and there was nothing he could do to counter it.

It was a staggering 100th final at tour-level that Nadal has competed he. The Spaniard has managed to win 68 of them.  It is the sixth time that a player has reached 100 finals in Open Era on the ATP Tour. He is just a single trophy away from beating the record of most titles on clay-court. The record for the Open era is set by Guillermo Vilas and stands at 49. With the event in Paris on clay-court Nadal’s French Open odds of beating the record have tumbled. It could be a magical tournament for Nadal if he can carry on his form from Monaco.

It is going to be interesting in Paris to see if Nadal or Djokovic will make it to the final and claim the crown. It is hard seeing past them both when making French Open tennis predictions. If Nadal wins, he will beat the record and if Djokovic wins he will claim the only trophy missing from his cabinet. Hopefully the effects of Nadal’s recent loss in Australia won’t be affecting him, and both players bring their best game

Tennis - Monte Carlo Masters - Monaco, 13/04/2016. Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a shot to Aljaz Bedene of Britain. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
Tennis – Monte Carlo Masters – Monaco, 13/04/2016. Rafael Nadal of Spain plays a shot to Aljaz Bedene of Britain. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Andy Murray Begins Quest To Reach All Four Major Finals In Monte Carlo

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The French Open is the only major tournament that British number one Andy Murray has not reached the final of and the Scot is in full swing to carve out the historical accomplishment. His first clay-court match of the pre-French Open swing came at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he Murray took on the qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Murray did not have things all his own way however, as after taking the first set in dominant fashion, Murray let his attention drop, eventually losing the second 6-4 before prevailing in three sets. Murray is now offered odds of 10/1 with Coral to claim the trophy in Monte Carlo come the end of the week.

With next month’s French Open on the horizon, Murray is looking to equal or better is effort of winning two trophies on the red dirt last year.

Having recently become a father for the first time with wife Kim, Murray certainly has a lot to juggle over the coming months. After the clay court season he will return to home territory to begin his preparations for another charge towards the Wimbledon title. The world number two will go into the tournament as one of the favourites usual, with bookmakers Coral giving odds of 7/2 for Murray to claim his second title in South West London. The odds on Murray winning Wimbledon this year of course take into account the form of Djokovic, who after claiming the season opening Australian Open, looks in ominous form.

Murray knows he will have to significantly up his game if he is to have any chance of adding to his two Grand Slam wins to date, with early tournament defeats to Grigor Dimitrov and Federico Delbonis in recent weeks a real cause for concern.

Andy Murray
Andy Murray

McEnroe To Imus: Querrey To Play Davis Cup vs. Spain

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U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe, appearing on the “Imus in the Morning” radio program Tuesday morning, announced that 19-year-old Sam Querrey will travel to Spain with the U.S. Davis Cup team and will “make his Davis Cup debut” against Spain in next week’s Davis Cup semifinal in Madrid.
McEnroe said an announcement would be forth-coming from the USTA. Querrey is coming off of a strong showing at the US Open where he reached the fourth round where he gave Spain’s No. 1 Rafael Nadal all sorts of trouble in a 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-3 loss.
Querrey also posted some strong clay court results earlier this year reaching the quarterfinals in Monte Carlo. The relative high altitude of Madrid (2,000-plus feet above sea level) – which provides for faster conditions – should be an asset to Querrey and his booming serve.
If Querrey competes for the U.S., he would be the No. 2 player for the United States and would face Spain’s No. 1 – likely Nadal – in Friday’s opening singles rubber.
The USTA announced last week that the U.S. team would consist of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Bob and Mike Bryan. Official nominations are not due to the International Tennis Federation until today. After official nominations are submitted to the ITF Tuesday, two changes to the team can be implemented before a deadline of one hour before the Thursday draw ceremony on the day before the series begins. Blake has struggled since his fourth-place finish at the Olympic Games, losing to fellow American Mardy Fish in the third round in Flushing.

Federer and Higueras vs. Nadal

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I love this time of year in men’s tennis as everyone is asking how Rafael Nadal can be beaten on the dirt, the rest of the year we are asking can anyone beat Roger Federer on any other surface.
Federer’s recent hiring of Jose Higueras as his coach is a huge step in the right direction if Federer is going to win his first French Open. Higueras is recognized as one of, if not the most knowledgeable coaches out there. This is according his former students Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Todd Martin, Pete Sampras and most recently Robby Ginepri.
Federer showed some real fire and moments of excellence in the Monte Carlo final. He artfully demonstrated a new tactic that he has gotten from Higueras – he was not only trying to move Nadal side to side on or far behind the baseline but he was moving him forward and back and winning most points when doing so. Federer was also taking his opportunities when he was able to move forward, which is going to be essential to taking the rhythm away from Nadal. I believe that Federer is only going to get better with this strategy. Yes, he lost the Monte Carlo final but he lost the final there 6-4, 6-4 in 2007 and this year, he lost it 7-5, 7-5 and he blow a couple of very good leads, including 4-0 in the second set. I believe that Federer is a little better off this year and he has a coach that is a very good communicator with a definite plan.
Federer is the most versatile player ever to play the game. He has everything needed to beat possibly the greatest clay court player. Federer is the world No. 1, however, I do think he is going to need all the help he can get when it comes to Nadal and playing him on the dirt – he might need Higueras to play with him against Nadal. The one thing that Federer does have going for him is that Nadal is not doing anything different on the clay in terms of his game and movement. Is this an advantage or not?
Nadal has been playing a lot more doubles and recently won the doubles title in Monte Carlo. Why is he doing this? To prepare for Wimbledon!!! Let the games begin…

The Journeyman: Bud Schultz, A Retrospective

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Bud Schultz can arguably be considered the second best male player ever to come out of Connecticut, after James Blake. He was a mainstay on the tour in the 80’s, and achieved a high singles ranking of #39 in the world. His path to professional tennis began when he picked up a racket at the age of 13, considered quite late by today’s standards, but just goes to show his athletic prowness. He chose Bates College in Maine for its academics, and also it enabled him to play two sports: basketball and tennis.There is no question that he is considered the best Division III male tennis player ever.
He idolized tennis’s Vitas Gerulaitis and basketball’s Walt Frazier and John Havilicek, growing up in Meriden, Conn.While growing up, he really didn’t have any formal coaching until college, and while on the tour he chose Bill Drake as his mentor because of Drake’s resume with working with players like Tim Mayotte and Barbra Potter.He would get coaching for free in exchange for working at Drake’s summer junior program.
He decided to give the tour a shot when after playing John James, a top 100 singles player from Australia, in a money tournament right after college. After their tough three-set match, James told Bud, “You need to get out there.” Bud responded with a quizzical look, and replied, “Out where?” James then explained to him that it would be wise to give the tour a shot. A friend of Bud’s named Carl Greenman put together a syndicate of money together to give him an opportunity to go out the circuit.Within three years, Bud had paid them back and doubled their money, and then was able to sustain himself on the tour, on his own.
If he could bring back one point from his career, he says he would like to have it when he played Yannick Noah at the Aussie Open when he was up two sets to love, and ended up going down in five tough sets. Another interesting moment happened at his third round match on Labor Day weekend against John McEnroe at the US Open. Bud lost in straight sets, and after the match his college buddy who he was staying with in NYC Rob Kramer came up to him and said to him, “We got to go now.” Bud was a little perplexed, and asked, “Where are we going?” Rob said, “I got your bags, we are going to the airport, we got to get back to Boston, and go to this party!” So within a half an hour of the match, they were on the shuttle back to Boston, and on the lake waterskiing within two hours. All of his friends were oblivious to him having just played a legend on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“My friends really kept me grounded when I was playing,” said Bud, thinking back on his career.
At the age of 29, Bud decided to hang it up on the tour, due to stress factures that developed in his legs and back. He immediately applied to the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston to be their head pro, and got the job. He also began to coach Ivan Lendl, who he had befriended on the tour. Tony Roche was Lendl’s official coach, but Bud would stay at Ivan’s house in Connecticut on weekend’s and help him out. At that time, Lendl was really making a go of trying to win Wimbledon, and Bud’s serve and volley game attracted Ivan to him to get some pointers.He also worked with Pam Shriver and Greg Rusedski. He also started along with Ned Eames a organization called “Tenacity,” that creates thousands of junior tennis players, along with teaching them life skills in the Boston area.
Bud now has three kid’s with his wife Elaine; Christo, Luke and Haley. He says they all couldnt be more different, with one son Christo being the top-ranked eighteen-year-old junior tennis player in New England. He now spends most of his time running a tennis facility he owns in Cohasset, Mass.
Have a great weekend and enjoy the tennis in Monte Carlo!
The Journeyman