What a kick ass draw!

My favorite first round matches:
Hewitt vs. Moya
Gambill vs. Corretja
Grosjean vs. Philippoussis
Haas vs. Escude
Roddick vs. Gonzalez

Yvegeny Kafelnikov was bounced IN THE FIRST ROUND BY A FREAKIN' QUALIFIER!!!!! Few results could make me happier!

Maybe HE ought to retire instead of telling Sampras what to do!

This looks like an exciting tournament. Safin-Robredo and Henman-Coria could be interesting too. Lleyton Hewitt's quarter of the draw looks stacked with Safin, Federer, Corretja and Moya - plus players like Zabaleta and Nalbandian who could pull off an upset on clay.

Chela torched Enqvist and could go deep into this tournament. Canas is good on dirt too. With Kafelnikov out and Grosjean shaky this year, the third quarter looks up for grabs. Nicholas Lapentti or Alberto Martin perhaps?

Lots of interesting players in that bottom quarter too. Roddick drew a nasty opening draw, but could still emerg from this quarter. Marcelo Rios bears watching, as does El Aynaoui in this sector.

Good eye, JC. Rios definitely has a fighting chance... And I agree, Roddick v. Gonzalez is a bit test for _both_ players. Should Andy emerge from that match, he's got a great chance, too, although I think Haas could really hurt Andy on red.

Some early results from Monte Carlo today:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news/ap/200204...montecarlo.html

Most notable: Andy Roddick d. Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7)

Interesting results already today in Monte Carlo. Roddick beat Gonzalez in two tie breaks - 9-7 in the second. Safin over Robredo took three sets. Gambill put up a fight but just wasn't able to make it against Corretja ... still, 7-5 7-6 hopefully bodes well for the young American. I'm not convinced Tommy Haas will even beat Nicolas Escude in the first round.

The guy I feel for is Ferrero. The poor guy has Portas, Mantilla, and then El Aynaoui (who just won on clay at Casablanca) or Rios. And El Aynaoui's first round opponent, Calleri, is no slouch: Calleri won their match in Miami this year, and has beat Chela, Zabaleta, and Kuerten this year.

My predictions at this point: Ferrero and Chela in the finals, with Martin and Hewitt their opponents.

Just wanted to give a shout out to my boy for toughing out a match against Gonzalez on clay. Next up is Bohdan Ulihrach, which also won't be all that easy. Then, if he makes it thru that one, he will have another tough one probably against Tommy Haas. Whoever said that Tommy won't beat Nicolas Escude must be forgetting that Escude usually does best on GRASS. This implicitly means that he won't be at his best on clay. Tommy has a great all around game, so he will do well on clay. I am not looking for that match to be close unless Tommy is way off for some non-tennis-related reason (illness, hangover, etc.).

Moya has done what we expected: he upset Lleyton Hewitt, 6-4, 6-3

Haas is leading Escude, 6-4, 2-1

Henman dropped the first set to Coria 6-7, but is up 6-5 in the second.

Canas is serving for the match against Sa. Actually, he just won it, 6-1, 6-0.

I was wondering if Lleyton Hewitt's dominance would extend to clay. While his style of play (terrific consistency, patience, footspeed) would seem perfect for clay, I wonder if the unsure footing freaks him out. And for Hewitt, speed (obviously not image) is everything. It'll be interesting to see if Hewitt will ever conquer clay. Sampras never did, nor did anyone ever expect him to. But Agassi did, and I think if Hewitt really set his mind to it, he could too.

I think Agassi is a good point of comparison. Like Agassi, Hewitt's game involves being able to hit clean service return winners and outlast his opponents in baseline rallies by superior speed & conditioning. Though Agassi is good on clay, he is still superior on hardcourts, and I think that will be true for Hewitt as well. I wouldn't dismiss him as dangerous on the surface because he lost to Moya in his first clay match of the season. Moya was just a really brutal first round draw. Hell, gith Kuerten out and Ferrero playing horribly, I think he even has a shot at the French (of course, so do lots of other people).

Today's winners!:

Ferrero, over Mantilla (a good win)
Haas
Henman
Safin
Grosjean
Johansson
Roddick
and Corretja

The upset victims:
Rios d. El Aynaoui
Pavel d. Canas
Nalbandian d. Federer

I'm not sure Rios over El Aynaoui is really an upset--Rios has been playing his best tennis in several years lately. Wow, Nalbandian is red hot! Ferrero isn't dead!

Some cool looking matches coming up: Ferrero/Rios, Haas/Roddick, Henman/Chela, Moya/Corretja (just like old times)

My picks for next round (watch me go 0 for 8!)
Moya
Safin
Chela
Pavel (just a feeling)
Grosjean
Martin
Roddick (should be real close)
Rios

Some early a.m. results, and a few surprises!:

-Moya d. Corretja
-Costa d. Martin
-Ferrero d. Rios (Rios retired...what luck for Ferrero; maybe he'll get his act together now)
-Henman d. Chela (WOW! This is an EXCELLENT win for Tim Henman. The score: 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4)
-Grosjean d. Novak

Haas d. Roddick fairly easily, 6-3, 6-2. Not a bad loss for Andy, really, as Haas won their only previous encounter and has a bit more experience on European clay...

Apparently Andy lost his temper at the end of the first set and never recovered.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/TENNIS_Front.asp

Anyone think Moya can take out Safin?

B Man, I too was pretty stunned by Henman's three set win. Chela is having a great year and is a promising all-courter. But Henman may finally be coming into his own as a true top-flight player - three South Americans in a row is tough on clay. If he can beat Johansson, you'd have to call the tournament an unqualified success (I don't see him beating Moya or Safin at this point, but geez, who knows!?).

Man, I'd love to be able to watch that Haas/Ferrero match. It looks like a barn-burner.

Ferrero has handled Haas, 6-3, 6-1

Moya vs. Safin is the second match of the day, and the score so far isn't quite what I expected. Moya took the first set 6-1 but Safin is leading 2-0 in the second. Disappointing first set from Marat...

Wow. Haas isn't at his best on clay, but still...it sounds like Ferrero is back in a big way. I see Guga is supposed to be playing in Rome--it's hard to believe he's coming back so fast.

Update on Moya vs. Safin:
Safin rebounded nicely in the second set, taking it 6-2. The third set seems to be more of what we would expect from these two players; it went the distance, with Moya prevailing 7-6 (7-4) to win the match.

Right now, Johansson is up a break on Tim Henman in the first set of their encounter...

Grosjean has beaten Albert Costa, 6-4, 6-2
Henman and Johansson are in a third set

Well, 3 of the 4 semi-finalists are coastal Mediterranean boyz who can just about row to Montecarlo. The fourth possibly a Viking and they are good at rowing. Does it look to anybody else like an all-Spanish final?
Geez I wish I could see some of these live. Watching the Roddick-Haas game after I knew the results was a lot less fun. (And after watching that cute little number, Foretz, come out of nowhere and play top-ten level tennis.)

Tim Henman is out of his mind!

He's beaten Johansson in three sets, coming from behind in the third set to win the match 2-6, 6-5, 7-6. Good show Timmy!!!

Before everyone jumps on the Moya bandwagon (yes, his results this week have been stunning), know that the one time he met Henman on clay, Henman took him to a third (and final) set tie break. Henman has had probably the most consistent year on the tour.

Nevertheless, Moya is a top tier clay courter. Henman has his work cut out for him.

I think the Spanish Armada has this tournament won.

One of the Spaniards will probably win (I'm beginning to think it will be Ferrero), but I do think Grosjean has a chance. Henman's performance has been amazing--maybe this is his year to win Wimbledon at last.

Wish I had been there...

"UP FRONT.... ->> - COMEDY CLUB…There’s more at stake at the Tennis Masters Monte Carlo than meets the eye. As the players try and make history on the court, another traditional event takes place off it - the players’ cabaret. Held at the Sea Club at the Meridien Beach Plaza, many of the biggest stars in tennis let their hair down to take part in different sketches throughout the night. Hosted by JONAS BJORKMAN, the entertainment ranged from FERNANDO MELIGENI as Ricky Martin surrounded by dancing “girls” (FRANCISCO CLAVET, DAVID NALBANDIAN, DANIEL ORSANIC, JUAN IGNACIO CHELA and MARIANO ZABALETA) to a rendition of Moulin Rouge by a rather sexily clad trio of ANDY RODDICK, TOMMY ROBREDO and HORACIO DE LA PENA..."

from this site

SPOILER

According to the ATP website, Ferrero is on the brink of victory, leading Moya by a score of 7-5, 6-3, 5-4

Ferrero has won Monte Carlo. The final score: 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

Welcome back, Juan Carlos!