Top 5 Contenders at Monte Carlo Masters 2018
After quite surprising results at the Miami Masters and Indian Wells Masters, the clay court season is about to kick off. The US hardcourt season projected two new winners, Juan Martin Del Porto and John Isner, who will try to continue their winning run.
The Australian Open champion Roger Federer has decided to skip the entire clay court season yet again and will hope to come back stronger at Wimbledon. The Swiss maestro lost the World No.1 ranking to his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal after a shock defeat in the Miami Open.
Let us look at the top contenders on the red dirt:
Rafael Nadal
The "King of Clay" is back after an injury layoff which forced him to miss all events post the Aussie Open. The Spaniard made his comeback at the Davis Cup, winning back to back matches against Philipp Kohlschreiber (6-2, 6-2, 6-3) and Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-4, 6-4) and helped his team win against Germany.
After winning both his Davis cup ties, Nadal reasserted that he is still the man to beat on his beloved surface.The defending champion at Monte Carlo has a huge chunk of points to defend this season and might have a potential quarterfinal clash with the 2016 French Open winner Novak Djokovic. The duo last met almost a year ago at the Madrid Masters when Nadal won in straight sets.