Novak, the New Prince of Monaco

I am by no means a fan of Novak Djokovic, but I must admit I take pleasure in witnessing a Nadal defeat on his beloved clay, so I kinda back the Serb whenever he goes head-to-head with the Spaniard on this surface. 

In recent years, Novak was one of the few players to post wins over Nadal on red dirt, so it should come as no surprise that he was the one who ended Rafa's extraordinary 8-eight reign in Monte Carlo. An extraterrestrial 46 match winning streak came to an end on Sunday when Nadal lost 2-6,6-7 to an inspired Djokovic, who has now beaten the Spaniard in every clay-court Masters 1000 final. There is still one major crown he did not claim though, and that's the French Open. He came close to completing a career Grand Slam last year, but he eventually failed to overcome Nadal.

Djokovic's performance in Monte Carlo is even more impressive as he was extremely close to pulling out due to the ankle injury he sustained during the Davis Cup tie with the United States this past weekend. He decided to tough it out though and it eventually paid off. He found his best form when he needed it the most, wrapping up a glorious week with his 14th Masters 1000 title: "I didn't know I would be a part of the tournament this year ... (it's) the best decision I ever made in my life,'' Djokovic said. "If somebody told me 10 days ago I'd be winning the trophy, I wouldn't think it's so realistic, to be honest," the Serb said. "I couldn't ask for a better start to the clay season."

The result could have an interesting impact on Roland Garros, a tournament Djokovic is desperately wanting to win. Nadal completed a stunning comeback, but he is yet to reach the same level of  consistency he had before the injury. He showed that during Indian Wells, as well as during the mouth-watering clash with Grigor Dimitrov this week, when it was only his fighting spirit and experience that got his through. I think this is a big concern going into the French Open, as he would have to sustain the same high intensity for a gruelling fortnight. Djokovic on the other side is still collecting the biggest titles, though he also has lapses that could prove costly against an inspired opponent. It is still pretty early to be talking about the French, but Djokovic definitely has the edge over Nadal at this moment and the win in Monte Carlo will surely prove a huge confidence booster.

Proud Djokovic celebrates a big moment in his career, having beaten all time great, Rafael Nadal, to claim his first Monte Carlo crown. Novak ended the Spaniard's extraterrestrial 8-year reign by winning 6-2,7-6.

photos: GETTY IMAGES

Robredo Back From the Grave

In a period when the top players are taking time off to properly prepare for the long clay-court season leading to Roland Garros, Spaniard Tommy Robredo wrote a sensational comeback story in Casablanca, where he claimed his 10th red dirt crown.
Once a top 10 contestant, Robredo has struggled in recent years, falling out of the limelight in 2010. Things took a turn for the worse last season, when the former world No. 5 saw his ranking go down as far as No. 471 following an extensive leg injury that sidelined him for more than five months. Thus, just when everyone was expecting him to throw in the towel, Tommy showed he still has plenty of gas left in the tank, stunning the first two seeds to cap a memorable week in Morocco. The Spaniard recovered from a terrible start to overcome top seeded Swiss, Stanislas Wawrinka, 1-6,6-3,6-2 in the semis, before defeating the second seeded South African, Kevin Anderson, 7-6,4-6,6-3 in the final. The win marks his first trophy in two years, his last success coming in 2011 in Santiago.

"I have been practising very well during a month in Barcelona before coming here,” said Robredo. “I knew that I could play a good tournament here and you never know what can happen. I went match by match and kept winning. Today, I was pretty nervous since this is very important for me. I really wanted to win this.

“I'm very happy to win a title again after my injury. It's just great! Those points will help me a lot in the ranking. The goal is to arrive in Roland Garros in the best form possible. After that I will sit down and have a look at my goals.”

Robredo, a former fourth time quarterfinalist at the French Open, will look to maintain his winning streak going into Paris, although Rafael Nadal, world No.1, Novak Djokovic, or clay-court specialists David Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro, will surely stand in his way.

Robredo completed a stunning comeback from a lengthy injury to claim his 10th clay court crown. He defeated South African Kevin Anderson 7-6,4-6,6-3 to win the title in Casablanca.

photos (top-down): ?, AP