Posted by Peter Bodo, TENNIS.com
Marel Ganollers-Pujol celebrated his big upset of James Blake in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston yesterday by flinging himself into a nearby pool. But it's really the North American players who are being thrown into the deep end, because the preludes are over and the European clay-court circuit goes into high gear this week in Monte Carlo.
And don't be deceived by the pleasantly shocking surprise crafted by California's young gun, Sam Querrey, at the Monte Carlo Country Club today. He beat Carlos Moya, a former French Open champion, but the operative word there is "former" -- Moya will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of his one Grand Slam win this year in Paris, and turns 32 this summer.
Yankee top guns turn into pop guns at this time of year. Andy Roddick and Blake haven't even entered the kickoff clay-court Masters in Monte Carlo for four years running, and neither has ever survived the third round -- either in Monte Carlo or at the closing festivities of the circuit at Roland Garros. The next two months belong to the Rafael Nadals and Roger Federers -- and Marel Ganollers-Pujols -- of this world.
This is too bad, because it's shaping up as fairly wide-open clay-court season. Sure, Federer won the title at Estoril yesterday, but he didn't exactly look overpowering -- he squeaked out a tiebreaker but was down a break when Nikolay Davydenko quit the match with a bum leg. Sure, Nadal is going to be the odds on favorite to win everything in sight. But just weeks ago in Miami, he was grousing about the concentrated importance of the European clay season. It's legitimate to wonder how long Nadal can be expected to perform like an Iron Man on clay. At what point does the "been there, done that" reflex kick in to produce the tennis player's version of burnout -- or simple boredom.
Nadal is simply too dominant a player, with too strong a track record, to demote in the handicapping chart. But the ATP natives have been restless, and sharpening up their long knives. The players who might make life a little tougher this year for Nadal and Federer are the ones who are tired of looking through the candy store window, and want to get in on the feast inside. That group includes the usual clay-court suspects, like Guillermo Canas and the guy one rung up in the food chain, David Ferrer. He won Valencia yesterday, and has a great shot over the next two months to solidify his position in the top 5. Then there's Davydenko, an all-purpose player who had Federer on the ropes last year in the Roland Garros semis, only to allow him to escape. By winning Miami, Davydenko finally seemed to take seriously the question, "Hey, why not me?" And then there's the ever-puzzling, always dangerous, and absolutely unpredictable David Nalbandian.
You may notice one glaring omission: Novak Djokovic. He's been in the semifinals at Roland Garros, but not in any of the events leading up to it. I'd say Federer and Nadal have their work cut out for them, even though this is the time of year when they don't have Roddick or Blake to worry about.
Peter Bodo
