A PERSON
Spanish prodigy Rafael Nadal, another victory in Monte Carlo, broke another ground record. He became the first tennis player after Ilie Nastase (1971-73) to win this tournament three times in a row. Three times the tournament in Monte Carlo was also won by Bjorn Borg (1977, 1979-80) and Thomas Muster (1992, 1995-96). But it's not about the records. In Monte Carlo, the old, mostly defensive Nadal tennis before our eyes has sunk into the past forever. Hard noticeably enriched his soil game, and this week one could already see the new Nadal, aggressive and sparkling - that's such a soil evolution. So far, of the 14 clay finals, Rafael has not lost a single one, and so far there is not a single reason why this should happen this season.
MATCH
Final tournament in Monte Carlo: Federer - Nadal. After this final, the statistics of their meetings grew up to 7: 3 in favor of Nadal and, one must think, will grow up in the near future. For the third year, Roger has been searching for a ground antidote to Nadal, but now he is as far from the target as he was two years ago. And maybe even further. While Federer was looking for a breach in defense, Nadal launched a counterattack, and Roger was not ready for this. As a result, both have 19 winners for the match, but Federer has twice as many unforced errors. After the match, Roger said that he had received some information for consideration in the final. Let's see what conclusions he draws and what he will do next time. But we can enjoy the fruits of Roger's thoughts only if he stops making so many mistakes.
BET
Maria Sharapova has long belonged not only to tennis. Last week, William Hill recalled this. The English bookmaker has opened a new betting line - who will be the next girlfriend of the heir to the British crown, Prince William. And then, with luck, and the Queen of England. It’s clear that this is just another fun PR campaign, so it’s not surprising that the list even includes such unthinkable options as marginal Kelly Osbourne and same-sex marriage. One thing is not clear - why some Britney Spears has a higher chance of becoming a queen than our UN Goodwill Ambassador.
CARE
Kim Clijsters said last week that she would definitely not play at the US Open. But he decided to play a couple at Wimbledon to stay longer in his last Grand Slam tournament. And just in case, I reminded why all the fuss is - she has a wedding. And then suddenly someone forgot.
RETURN
Roger Federer will play again for the Swiss national team in the Davis Cup. The first racket of the world agreed to fight in September with the Czechs for the right to get into the World Group. We have already seen this more than once. First, Roger pulls his team into the World Group by the ears, then throws it to the mercy of fate, the team without Federer naturally loses in the first round, next year Federer again gets a place in the World Group and so on in a circle. It is completely incomprehensible what is the point. Maybe, at least next year, for a change, Roger will still win the Davis Cup?
VIDEO
On June 2, Mallorca will host the “Clash of Coatings” - a match between Federer and Nadal on a half clay, half grass court. You can get at least a rough impression of this using the trailer.
NUMERAL
Roger Federer won his 500th victory beautifully - in Monte Carlo in the quarterfinal match he gave David Ferrer a “donut” - 6: 4, 6: 0. Among the current tennis players, only Carlos Moya has more victories (namely 516). However, do not forget that the Spaniard is 5 years older. And the correlation of victories and defeats at Roger is not an example better: the Spaniard left the court defeated 273 times, and Federer lost only 127 matches. When asked which of these 500 victories was the most memorable and expensive for him, Roger Federer replied: “If I need to choose only one, I will choose the victory over Pete Sampras. Then, at Wimbledon in 2001, I first went to the Central court, and even for my first match with Sampras. And won! That was incredible".
THE WORDS
Svetlana Kuznetsova : “I believe that we can really win the Federation Cup. The main will be the match against the US team away. It is necessary to prepare for it properly, to go only with the best team and play seriously for everyone. I believe that only the best should play in our team - Sharapova, I, Petrova and Dementieva. That would be perfect. ”
Ksenia VITRYAK