Welllllllll, that's the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters final over with between the world No.1 Novak Djokovic and No.2 Rafael Nadal, which saw the two men fight it out over the trophy in Monte Carlo.
The final itself was very much anticipated, and it was another chance for Rafa to seek redemption for his seven prior straight losses to Djokovic, and of course great things were expected from this match. However it wasn't quite what you would expect from the final, as from the start Djokovic, who looked very undercooked all week, mainly due to the passing away of his grandfather, didn't excel here either, as Rafa, who looked sharp as a tack, and hadn't dropped a set all week, went on to break Djokovic twice in the opening set. In the 2nd Rafa went one better and broke Djokovic twice again, however at 4-0, Rafa threw Djokovic a lifeline by dropping his serve, allowing him to break back, but in the end it made no difference, as Djokovic capitulated in gaining any momentum, and made a rash of unforced errors, to finally hand Nadal his first win over him in 8 meetings, as well as Rafa's 8th consecutive Monte Carlo title, the final score reading 6-3, 6-1.
This was a pretty underwhelming final, and clearly from the start Djokovic looked very ropey, and well below par. Obviously with his grandfather passing away this week, was a real pyschological blow to Djokovic, and he had struggled throughout the week, particularly in his matches with Dolgopolov and Berdych, as well as the windy conditions on court. But I did at least expect a bit more from the Serb and with his winning record over Nadal, you would at least think he could dig deep and find something to even level the match, but I guess it just wasn't Djoko's day. So that now marks his 3rd loss of the season already, and at this time last year, he was still on his invicible winning streak, but things change, and you can't go on winning forever. However I'm positive Djokovic will have his chances next week in the Serbia Open in his old hometown of Belgrade, which given his circumstances could prove to be a very emotional return to his old home, so the best of luck to him there.
But I am really pleased that Rafa won, as it was an important victory for him, which he really needed, especially after suffering the psychological blows he was dealt last year at the hands of Djokovic in the Masters and Grand Slam finals. But even in the Australian open we could see that Rafa had much improved from last year, and he had exorcised his demons that haunted him in 2011, so it was only a matter of time before he would secure a win over Djokovic, and I am really pleased that he did today. But that's only beginning of the clay season, and I'm sure Djokovic will improve throughout the rest of it before its over, and he will be determined to beat Nadal in the French Open.
But I think this is the start of Nadal getting his mojo back and it looks like the king of clay has finally arrived once again, and things are looking pretty good for him next week in Barcelona already, well for a start he doesn't have Djokovic playing there! But I also think that now Rafa has got that win over Djokovic that it could give him the impetus to go on a winning streak of his own, against his rival, now wouldn't that be something! But in Barcelona this week, one player will be playing there and that is Andy Murray, however there is no guarantee that Andy will get as far as the final, but I do hope that he does, as it would promise to be a good one. But Andy has yet to even reach the final of a clay court tournament so its probably a bit much to ask that he get's there, particularly as he will possibly have to face clay court specialists such as Almagro and particularly Ferrer (and he's never beaten Ferrer on clay), but you never know.
So once again a big congrats to Rafa for that much needed win against Djokovic today and it really does signal the return of the former World No.1, and just maybe he stands a chance of wrestling that No.1 spot back from Djokovic this year too, but time will tell on that.
Oh and as a very brief update on the ladies Great Britain team who played against Sweden in their Fed Cup tie over the weekend, they unfortunately did not come through this one as they lost the tie 4-1 to the hosts Sweden. On the first day, Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong both lost their rubber rounds in straight sets to the singles Swede players, Sofia Arvidsson and Johanna Larsson. And today, the team Captain, Judy Murray, took a risky move and put Laura Robson, who had no prior Fed Cup match experience, to play the crucial rubber. And despite clearly being the lower ranked player, Robson put in a very gutsy performance, as she battled against the higher ranked Arvidsson and made life difficult for her, recovering from 4-0 down to make it 5-4 (in Arvidsson's favour) before losing the 1st set. However in the 2nd set, Robson found some inspiration and managed to fight back and push Arvidsson to take the set, breaking her twice. In the 3rd however, Robson was broken again by Arvidsson, and despite a valiant effort to hold serve to make it 5-3 in Arvidsson's favour, she was unable to keep the match alive any longer, as the Swede No.1 closed out the match to win the tie, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
This was a terrific effort from the young Laura Robson, who really showed incredible promise in this match, and considering how much was on the line, she put on a very ballsy performance against her opponent. The second last game of the 3rd set itself was great, as Laura managed to save 8 match points in order to hold serve to make it 5-3. And you couldn't help but feel for Laura after the match finished, she broke down in tears, as her team mates tried to console her. And despite Great Britain's loss today, they still put a good battle against their opponents over the weekend, and Laura Robson should be proud of her brave efforts. And it wasn't all bad on the last day as team GB did at least walk away with the consolation prize, with Elena Baltacha and Heather Watson winning the dead rubber in doubles with a straight sets win 7-6(3), 6-1. So at least GB avoided being totally whitewashed, and they walked away with one win and it was the last match of the day, so that's better nothing, even though its far from what they would have hoped for.
But sadly for team GB in the Fed Cup, just like the men's team in the Davis Cup, that's their involvement over with for the year, and they have failed to reach the World Group II stage and will remain, like the Davis cup GB team, in the Africa/Europe Group I, but they acquitted themselves well with some good efforts, especially today from the whole GB team. And strangely enough they lost their tie 4-1 just like the GB Davis cup team lost theirs, and they also won the doubles rubber too! Weird eh????
Well that's it for now. More soon on Barcelona and other stuff.
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