The Monte Carlo Masters – What we learned

The Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo is now over, and here’s what we learned:

1) Murray and Djokovic are still showing vulnerability.  Andy Murray, the world #1, lost to Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the round of 16.  Ramos-Vinolas is a good clay court player, but last year Murray showed real dominance on clay, and one would never have expected him to lose this match.  Combine that with his early round loss at the Aussie Open (lost to Mischa Zverev), and the conclusion is inescapable that Murray is vulnerable and could lose his ranking before the year is over.

The enigma of Novak Djokovic continues, with a loss in this tournament to David Goffin in the quarters.  Novak had never lost to Goffin.  I’m a great admirer of Goffin, who compensates for is small size with great quickness, tremendous hand-eye abilities, and innovative tactics.  However, this is not a match Djokovic, the reigning French Open champ, should lose. 

So, question marks remain regarding the play of the two highest ranked players in the world.

2) Clay court line calls are error-prone.  When David Goffin played Rafa Nadal in the semis here, everyone assumed that Goliath would beat David easily.  That prediction was weakened substantially when David (Goffin), went up a break in the first set against Nadal.  Goffin was serving with the advantage for consolidation of that break at 3-2, and in the ensuing rally, Nadal hit a ball that landed at least 8 inches over the base line.  The linesman correctly called the shot out, but then the chair umpire, Cedric Mourier, overruled the call and ruled that the point should be replayed.  Goffin requested that the mark be checked, and Mourier then got down from his chair and checked the wrong mark.  Everyone in the stadium except Mourier knew that Nadal’s shot was out, but the point was replayed.  Goffin lost the point, lost his break advantage, lost the set, and eventually lost the match.  This errant line call by the umpire may have been the most critical mistake I’ve ever seen in a match.

In an earlier blog post, I suggested that the electronic line calling system, which, though not perfect, is far better than the “eyeball” approach used in clay matches, be implemented in clay court tournaments.  As I stated before, the French Open could install Hawkeye on courts Lenglen and Chatrier for less than 1% of the amount handed out as prize money.  A mistake of the magnitude that occurred in this Monte Carlo match would be a disaster in a major.

A couple of further points about this incident:  First, Mourier, who has been criticized by players in the past for poor umpiring, should be temporarily removed from umpiring until he shows that he is paying attention during matches.  Second, as Mary Carillo pointed out in commentary on this match, the incident was not Rafa Nadal’s finest hour.  Nadal knew very well that his shot was out, yet he said nothing and allowed this errant call, which had a huge impact on the match, to stand.  I agree with Carillo that Nadal should have come forward and awarded the point to Goffin. 

3) Nadal looks like the Nadal of old.  Rafa won his 10^th Monte Carlo masters, an amazing achievement.  But more telling than the achievement itself is the way Rafa did it.  He is looking again like the man who was virtually unbeatable on clay just a few years ago.  Many pundits are picking him to win his 10^th French Open, and he certainly has a chance, with both Murray and Djokovic playing less than legendary tennis.  I think the interesting match at the French would be Federer-Nadal.  Although Nadal has dominated Federer on clay in the past, Roger remains one of the best clay court players in the world, and he appears to have solved the problem of the Nadal forehand high to his backhand.  Federer’s play this year has also been nothing short of spectacular.  We will know that Nadal is really back if/when he takes out 2 of the other “big four” in dominant fashion to win the French.