Lessons Learned in Monte-Carlo

The Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Tournament is history, which means we have officially entered the clay court season and there's no turning back (except for American players who will skip most of the tournaments, opting to prepare for the French Open by playing on hard courts, therefore ensuring a very quick but painful exit at Roland Garros) With that being said, let's jump into what we learned this last week.

Andy Murray Isn't Dead
It looked bleak for Andy coming into the clay season and I declared him dead on last week's Culture Clash podcast. Well, he obviously was listening to my naysayer sentiments, because he perked up and put on an impressive showing in Monaco. Sure he didn't beat anyone of substance, but he can take pride knowing that he was the only player to take a set off Rafa. Not sure what's gotten into the lad, maybe he's tired of losing, maybe his energy is back because he's excited for the royal wedding or maybe it just shows us that Andy Murray is a complete enigma. Expectations form, Andy Murray has momentum and he'll flame out like there's no tomorrow. But when there are no expectations and the fans/tennis media have left him for dead, look out tennis world.

No US Men Are Relevant on Clay
No statement could be truer this year. In previous years, we have at least seen Querrey and Isner give clay a chance. This year, there will be none of that. They will likely play a few tournaments but my guess is that they'll have Wimbledon in the back of their minds for the next two months. Same for Andy Roddick. Mardy Fish and Ryan Harrison are probably the best bet to do anything but if I was a betting man, I'd probably say we won't hear too much about the red, white and blue until the end of June.

Is Milos Raonic Superman?
I'll keep this short as I don't want to alienate readers with my man crush on Milos. Basically, I expected little from him on clay. He's a big young dude with a monstrous forehand and serve who comes up to net a lot. Throw in a lack of experience on clay and you could see why I thought maybe this year would be a wash for the Canadian. And out of the gates, he beats Llodra and Gulbis, two decent clay wins. All I'm saying is Milos continues to be the man.

We need Novak
There was a void in this year's tournament because there was no Novak. Djokovic is the hottest player right now and regardless of how good he is or isn't on clay, he brings something fresh to the table and he brings loads of excitement. Federer and Nadal obviously still draw a crowd, but Djokovic is the new guy who is hungry because he hasn't experienced all the victories yet. He wants to earn the game's respect, he wants to destroy everybody and because of that, he is awesome to watch.

This is Nadal's House
However good Nadal is on other surfaces now, he's 100 times better on clay. Nobody should forget that.  To make things worse for his opponents, this year Nadal will want to prove that even more. Because of injuries, the attention has been taken away from him and passed on to Novak. My guess is that Nadal hates this and will make people pay for questioning his abilities or even giving someone else too much credit while he's been injured. The clay season is Nadal's house and barring any major injuries, I think he's going to make sure we all remember that for the next two months.