Monte Carlo Masters: An analysis of the chances of the Big Four

Rafael Nadal

With a staggering eight consecutive titles and a total of nine finals at Monte Carlo, Rafael Nadal is the deposed king searching for his lost glory. And that is quite a tough job for the nine-time French Open winner given his sporadic good form. The 2016 season has so far been a mirror image to his 2015 woes except for the Indian Wells tournament where he showed some admirably gutsy and tenacious play to make it to the semis.

But whether the fifth seed would be able to carry on from there is something hard to tell irrespective of the fact that he is now entering that part of the season where once upon a time he used to be indomitable.

For one thing, Rafa’s draw is something he would not have desired. And if he has to book a berth in the final from that heavily stacked portion of the draw, it is imperative for the former World No. 1 to find his clay legs again.

After a mild opener against Aljaz Bedene, he is set to come face-to-face with the 12th seed Dominic Thiem, the Austrian youngster who conquered him on clay at Buenos Aires. If that is not tricky enough, then the reigning Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals should be quite a threat. Besides, there are added dangers like Grigor Dimitrov and Gilles Simon who can rattle the draw.

About the author

Sudeshna is a veteran Indian Sports and International Tennis journalist as well as editor at Sportskeeda. She has an overall experience of over 10 years with top publications like The Bridge, Fox Sports Asia, and gained a keen interest in Indian sports since the 2002 Commonwealth and Asian Games when she was in school.

Sudeshna holds a Master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. She attends tournaments regularly and being a highly experienced journalist, she ensures she only contacts the correct people from her network for the most authentic information to be put in her articles.

Sudeshna’s favorite Indian athlete is PV Sindhu owing to her big-tournament performances. She also admires Tennis legend Rafael Nadal for his resilience and has witnessed the Spaniard in action at the French Open, due to which, Roland Garros is her all-time favorite Grand Slam tournament.

Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics made a lasting impact on Sudeshna. She has also interviewed him along with Badminton star Chirag Shetty and several other sports personalities. She has done on-ground reporting on multiple ITF tournaments along with the Premier Badminton League, Asian Boxing Championships and the Davis Cup.

When not using her skills and years of experience in crafting compelling content, Sudeshna likes to read, watch movies and travel.

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