I remember that many years ago, people called the Monte Carlo Masters a french open vane, of course, several other clay masters have been called this way. People always want to find a little law in the ups and downs of the players' record, but the real constant in sports is that all the rules will eventually be broken.
There is no vane at the French Open, and nadal and Djokovic are partly to blame for their ability to adjust their form so that we can't measure their level in the next race with one stop.
Especially in the past few years, when the two of them came to Monte Carlo, they were basically just starting to find feelings on the clay, but everyone knows that their competitive level will always rise sharply before the French Open.
However, with the rise of young people, it has to be said that Monte Carlo now has a bit of a weather vane. Tsitsipas, the 3rd seed, defeated Davidovic 6-3, 7-6 in the Monte Carlo final yesterday to defend the title. Looking at the entire race, I feel that this year's Monte Carlo seems to have "set the tone" for this year's French Grid.
First of all, Davy dovic was able to reach the final, at least further proving his clay strength. From this point of view, Djokovic met such an opponent in the first game after such a long truce, and the result of the defeat does not necessarily mean that Djokovic is in poor form. As long as the state is not too stretched, in more than a month away from the French Open, polishing the sharp edge is not a big fuss for players of this level.
So, even if Nadal has not recovered from a stress fracture, even if Djokovic has not yet reached his best, as long as they still compete, in the French Open hero list, it will definitely be a sweeper in the French Open hero list, not always in your vision, but it can never be ignored, which is almost unanimous among all fans.
Secondly, when Alcaraz stormed his youth to win the Miami title, almost everyone expected to designate him as the third person in this year's French Open. But his exit from monte carlo also reminds us that it takes time for young people to digest their first major successes. Of course, Miami's victory is a good thing, but the so-called misfortune and blessing, the change of mentality brought about by such a champion at this node, is a challenge and variable for the preparation of the French Open.
Of course, perhaps the most important weather vane of this year's Monca is Tsitsipas is the most anticipated player at this year's French Open besides Nader.
Tsitsipas, after finishing runners-up at the French Open last year, was lackluster in the second half of the year. After reaching the final four of the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, the North American Sunshine Doubles was out early, which made it inevitable to have a sense of "aging before aging" under the light of Alcalaz.
But if you really know about tennis, you should know that each player is good at different types of courts, and even in different regions. Tsitsipas' grass record has been dismal, and his record on the North American hard courts has not been very impressive, so he has been brilliant for the first half of the season almost every year.
In fact, careful analysis, red clay is undoubtedly the venue that Tsitsipas is best at. Aside from reaching the final at last year's French Open, his clay win rate is 74.1 percent, which is well above his hard court win rate of 65.2 percent. Defending his title in Monte Carlo also allowed Tsitsipas's two Masters titles to all come from clay.
Most importantly, this year's Tsitsipas's record in the Australian Open's final four matches last year, and this time winning the championship in Monte Carlo for two consecutive years, which basically proves that Tsitsipas is not inferior to last year's state this year. Last year, he led Djokovic in two sets in the final and was already fairly close to the championship. If Nadal and Djokovic are missing out on their status at the French Open this year, he is even entitled to have an ambition for the title.
Of course, although Zverev's most eye-catching results in the final four came from hard courts, the French Open is the most stable Grand Slam in Zverev's state, and even if his clay record is slightly higher than that of hard courts, his competitiveness should not be ignored.
However, in terms of personality, although Tsitsipas is a little arrogant, he does not have a relatively large emotional management problem like Zverev, and his record on clay and his mentality are relatively stable. So, combined with the final result in Monte Carlo, I think Tsitsipas should be the third favourite of this year's clay season.