Djokovic Ends Nadal's Monte Carlo Reign

At the quarterfinal stage, I said that Djokovic looked very beatable and that Nadal was the one to watch out for.  Now that the tournament is over, Djokovic is getting stronger while it is Nadal that has question marks over his head.  Such is the ebb and flow of the tennis tournament and season, with its survive and advance format, which each day and week a new match and tournament, starting from scratch against a new opponent.

1) Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. 3) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6-2 7-6(1)

-Djokovic wins 37th career title, 3rd of 2013, last '13 Dubai
-It is his 14th Masters title, last '12 Shanghai.  He remains 4th all-time
-It is his first win in Monte Carlo and he has won 8 of the 9 Masters, which is the most all-time.  (Federer has 7)
-Only Cincinnati is missing from his trophy case while Federer is missing Monte Carlo and Rome.
-He joins the list of Rios, Kuerten, and Nadal to win the three clay Masters.
-Only he and Federer have now made all 9 Masters finals, with Nadal only missing Cincinnati.
-He is now 4200 points ahead Federer for no. 1 in the world.  The Swiss slipped past Murray by 10 points for no. 2
-Nadal is now 1000 points behind Ferrer and will need to be crazy good again in the clay season and have play poorly to reach the critical no. 4 spot.

Nadal struggled a bit down the stretch in this tournament, losing a set coming within 5 points of losing to Dimitrov in the quarters, beating Tsonga in a tight 2-setter in the semis, and then getting only 8 games from Djokovic in the final.  I suppose he's ready for the home cooking in Barcelona and can probably play himself into form there before a week of rest prior to Madrid and Rome, but it's a little concerning that he ran out of gas this early in the clay season.  But the king of the clay that he is, I expect to him going deep and in contention for both Rome and the French Open.

Djokovic is likely going to be with him every step of the way through the clay season, though his early struggles against Youzhny and Monaco makes me think he's not going to dominate like in 2011 and could be in for a loss or two.  At any rate, this clay season is still about two men:  Nadal and Djokovic. But that's probably what Federer is wanting us to think.

Fabio Fognini beat Gasquet in straight sets, reaching his first Masters semifinal and reaching no. 24 in the world.  He'll have a lot of momentum heading to Rome.  Wow the Italians have got to their recent successes in tennis, with two women in the top 13 and and two men in the top 25 and Rome is right around the corner.

Fed Cup action has had two ties delayed to Monday because of rain in Sicily and Switzerland, so my Fed Cup wrap won't be until later, possibly tomorrow.