Nadal teaches Zverev a tough lesson in Monte Carlo

Rafael Nadal wasn’t really in a forgiving mood this week and in one of the earlier rounds youngster Alex Zverev who is tipped to reach the top but he was taught a tough lesson by the king of clay. Throughout the week in Monte Carlo you couldn’t fault the former world number one who claimed...

Frustrations visible as Djokovic fell early once again!

aWhen I heard about Novak Djokovic’defeat to David Goffin my first thought was “I’m not surprised” watching Novak in the week I felt there was a naivety in his game and a frustration with his tennis. David Goffin honestly played one of the best performances I have seen this year and will come onto that...

Djokovic 6-3 3-6 7-5 Simon – Novak squeezes past stubborn Simon at Monte Carlo

And breathe! Well where to begin? Novak Djokovic has crept through to the third round at Monte-Carlo after a hard thought win against Gilles Simon. The Frenchman's ranking has taken a hit over the last 12 months or so and came into Monte Carlo ranked at 32 in the world but he is still one...

Why Rafa can dominate on the dirt again!

“King of Clay” we all know who we are talking about but it is something we haven’t used for a while. Monte-Carlo and French Open champion on nine occasions his dominance on the dirt was absolutely outstanding. A couple of years of injuries and inconsistency in form meant that title was used less and less....

Murray to play Monte Carlo on Wednesday despite recent elbow issues

After an appearance in Zurich about a week ago alongside Roger Federer in a match for charity doubts were raised as if Murray would be fit for Monte-Carlo. The world number one had been training at the Patrick Mouratoglu Academy in Nice before a quick stop off in Zurich and then immediately travelled to Monte-Carlo....

Edmund finds variety after sloppy start to see off Evans

Dan Evans has made it very clear in the past he doesn’t really like the clay courts but he couldn’t have asked for a better start to his match against Kyle Edmund up 4-1 in just over 20 minutes. One aspect of the match-up I picked up in my preview was the need for Edmund...

Cuevas cruises past Troicki in Monte Carlo!

Routine doesn’t get more routine than that! Pablo Cuevas quickly secured his place in the second round at Monte-Carlo for the second year running after a pretty solid performance against Victor Troicki didn’t show up. For Troicki this was his first clay court tournament since Roland Garros last year which will be the same for...

Monte-Carlo Preview – Dan Evans v Kyle Edmund, backhand v forehand. Winner gets Nadal!

Good friends and Davis Cup team mates but for about two hours they will have to put this aside as in one of the standout round matches at Monte Carlo see's Kyle Edmund up against Dan Evans for a place in round two against a man who has won Monte-Carlo 9 times in the last...

Why Marin Cilic needs to be less predictable and think more to find his form!

It seems a lifetime ago that Marin Cilic was a champion at Flushing Meadows. Last year the Croat picked up his first Masters 1000 title seeing off Berdych, Verdasco, Coric, Dimitrov and of course Murray on route to his win in Cincinnati but this year it hasn’t happened for him but why is that? I...

One week until Monte-Carlo! The best are set to return and where better to kick off the clay court season?

It’s that time of the year again. Monte-Carlo kicks off an incredible run of tournaments as they clay court season welcomes the big boys and there isn’t a better setting for tennis than this. As ever it attracts the best in the world as they look to get preparations for Roland Garros under way but...