The 2 top players have 2 different stories.
Rafa is the super King of Clay that does not win a tournament almost for 1 year (last one ws the Roland Garros), he does not look very fit, but he wants to do anything he can to win his 8th stright title in Monte-Carlo.
On the other side there is Novak that is definately on the roll, he is super fit and he wants do dethrone Rafa (also) from Monte-Carlo.
Novak
Novak was the first one to play and he really looked good. We have to say that Seppi did not really adopt the best game. You always wonder why a much less talented player wants to trade shots on clay with Novak (or Rafa)… the only chance is to attack as soon as possible. Andres did not get it and he was easily outclassed by an inspired Novak in straight sets.
‘I haven’t played a match on a clay court since Roland Garros last year, so I’m happy with how I played,’ Djokovic said.
In the next turn Novak will play fabulous Dolgolopov that managed to beat Tomic using his trade mark crazy (but this time solid) tennis.
‘He’s a very talented player and has a lot of variety in his game, so it will be very difficult,’ Novak commented.
Rafa
After Novak, it was Rafa’s time.
Rafa was clearly unconfortable and somewhat worried. Maybe it was Real Madrid losing yesterday against Bayer Monaco in the Champion League or most probably his troublesome knee that made him withdraw from the semis in Miami, but he looked really unhappy. Maybe he was a bit optimistic when he announced that his knee was getting better.
Rafa during the match was not 100% super terrible Rafa, alias that strange guy full of energy that jumps up and down the court like superman. Instead he was very careful in his movements and we was often late in his movements. Sometimes he also had sloppy shots also during important points. It was quite strange to see him wasting the first set point when he was 5-4 up with a out-of-the-frame easy forehand that he just wanted to return without much ambition.
But Rafa is Rafa and eventually he managed to win the match with a relative ease 6-4 6-3… but there is still a huge question mark about how he feels.
Let’s hope to be wrong about that! We want to see him in is full form!
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