Buenos Aires final preview and pick: Nadal vs. Monaco

March 1, 2015 Ricky Match previews 0

Nadal MondayOnly one man stands in Rafael Nadal’s way of his first title in 2015 and it is none other than one of the Spaniard’s best friends on tour, Juan Monaco. They will face each other in Sunday’s Buenos Aires final.

Rafael Nadal and Juan Monaco, who played doubles with each other this week, will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers when they battle for the Argentina Open title on Sunday afternoon.

Nadal is leading the head-to-head series 5-1, including 5-0 on clay. Their clay-court set results have to be an incredibly sore sight to Monaco’s eyes; they read 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, and 6-0. Nadal and Monaco most recently met at the Madrid Masters last spring, when the former world No. 1 dominated 6-1, 6-0.

If nothing else, Monaco should at least be able to make things somewhat competitive this time around. The 30-year-old Argentine is armed with a clean bill of health and seemingly in resurgent form after briefly plummeting outside the top 100 in 2014. He will break back into the top 50 on Monday thanks to wins in Buenos Aires over Maximo Gonzalez, Leonardo Mayer, Pablo Cuevas, and Nicolas Almagro.

Nadal is off to a slow start this season, even on clay. The fourth-ranked Spaniard lost to Fabio Fognini in Rio de Janeiro, but he may be finally picking up some momentum. So far in Buenos Aires he has taken out Facundo Arguello, Federico Delbonis, and Carlos Berlocq. Nadal ran into some trouble against Berlocq on Saturday, but the top seed stormed back from 6-1 down in the first-set tiebreaker en route to a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory.

“In the second I was more aggressive and more dynamic with my shots,” Nadal explained. “I’m happy with the victory…. I’m happy for Pico. It’s a joy to play this decisive match against a friend and for me it is also very important to play my first final of the year here in Buenos Aires, a place where I feel the affection of the people.”

So, too, does Monaco–who should be inspired to put up a fight in front of his home fans against a heavily-favored opponent. However, his past history against Nadal is alarmingly bad and a combined six sets and more than five hours on court against Cuevas and Almagro will not help.

Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 7 games or fewer

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73 Comments on Buenos Aires final preview and pick: Nadal vs. Monaco

  2. Despite Rafa’s almost flawless record against Pico I don’t think he should go into the match taking anything for granted. Rafa should play him like he was any other player who can pose a threat to him.

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  4. Love the artwork above, but I say that Monaco plays him tougher this time around and wins more than 7 games…but not a set.

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  7. I wondered the exact same thing! Who on earth would vote for Monaco to beat Rafa, as you said – based on what? Because Rafa’s been up and down and not in his best form lately? Well, we all know that he doesn’t have to be at his best to win on clay. The loss to Fognini was more about Rafa beating himself.

    I think Rafa seems more comfortable and relaxed with the conditions at Buenos Aires. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing. He wants this title. I believe he will do what is necessary to get it down. It’s his first final this year and this is a chance for him to get back some ranking points and raise a trophy.

    I don’t know that it matters how Monaco plays. When it’s clay, it’s always on Rafa’s racket!

    Let’s do this, Rafa!

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  9. Rafa’s match will start later than scheduled. The doubles match on the same court hasn’t finished yet, it was suspended for over half an hour due to rain.

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  19. The court is soggy. I think in cases like this they should get the players to approve the court conditions before playing. The singles should have been played before the doubles.

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  23. Let chit chat a bit, I’m wondering about which tennis tournament I should attend in the US? What’s your favorite, Ricky? Montreal/Toronto, Cincy or US Open? Besides Nadal, I really want to watch Federer before he retires.

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  24. Rafa was very upset with the court conditions. You could hear him going on about it to the chair umpire and then he called to his good friend – Pico – to get him involved in the discussion. The tennis channel commentators said that both players were having problems when sliding to the outside of the court because of the soggy conditions.

    They have been replaying yesterday’s semifinal matches while waiting for the grounds crew to work on the court. But it’s still raining lightly they said.

    I am sure they will want to get this match in today.

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  26. Monaco attacking superbly. Nadal defending like Nadal. He looks loads better than he did last week. Though Monaco has a shot here if he can keep this up. That will be a really, really tough ask though.

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  31. Couldn’t see the match, just followed the live score…glad Rafa made it! Feels so good…can’t wait to see pictures of Rafa holding the trophy ? it’s been a while…

    Vamos Rafa!

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  32. Rafa played better in that second set to just take control of the match. I thought that Monaco came out playing well in the first set, trying to be aggressive. But Rafa seemed to have more depth to his groundstrokes and played well enough. I never had the sense that Monaco was going to win this. But in the second set, Rafa was hitting his groundstrokes with more confidence and accuracy. The forehand was firing today.

    I am not saying that he’s back. But he is looking much better than he did in Rio. He won a title, got to lift and bite a trophy and looked very happy! It’s good to finally see him be able to celebrate.

    Congratulations Rafa! 🙂

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  33. Oh yes, one more thing. The commentators said that by winning this match, Rafa would tie the great Guillermo Villas with the record for clay titles! YAY!!!!

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    • And THAT is one of the most amazing achievements in male pro tennis. One we’ve been waiting for for years and knew it was just a matter of time so long as Rafa was able to continue competing. Remarkable given that Villas played mostly on clay. Villas must not be too pleased (or perhaps he is more charitable than that) and must have known last couple of years that this day was coming, once Rafa’s knees got so much better after that long rest in 2012/2013.

      Pretty safe bet that Rafa will win 4 more titles on clay. At 50 that will put him ahead, on a single surface, of Jimmy Connors (hardcourt) and second most of anyone just after Federer (currently 58 on hardcourt).

      Of course this is also to be put into the perspective that about double as many hardcourt tournaments are played each year at the 500, 1000 and slam levels, and that winning an entire tournament’s worth of rounds is arguably much harder on claycourt than on hardcourt.

      Reply

      • I don’t think Villas cares about this at all. He’s too old for that. Actually apart TV reporters, nobody cares, including Nadal. If he decides to win as many titles as possible, we will see him competing in Casablanca, Bastad, Hamburg, Kitzbuhel, etc.

        Reply

      • dandaotaichiqigong,

        Wow, your name is hard to type much less try to pronounce! But I wanted to say – great post! So well said! Thanks for putting in perspective Rafa’s remarkable achievements on clay. It is true that Villas was primarily a clay specialist, while Rafa has added to his incredible record on clay by proving that he is an all surface player.

        I particularly loved your last paragraph! That says it all! Thanks!

        Reply

  34. so rafa wins a title 😀 😀 could not watch the match but will watch the repeat telecast and then comment on his performance. vamos champ!

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  35. vamosrafa,

    Yes, please be sure to watch a repeat broadcast of the match. The tennis channel replayed it again tonight and I got more out of watching it again. I think that you will be pleased with Rafa’s performance. Of course, we know that this is against Monaco, who doesn’t really have any weapons to trouble Rafa on the clay. However, it was the quality of Rafa’s groundstrokes that I noticed. Rafa seems to start off a bit slow these days. His first sets seem to be tighter and then he seems to relax and play even better in the second set.

    His forehand was really firing well today. He painted a few lines with winners. Nice to see! It’s like little by little, it’s coming back. I am not going to get carried away and say he’s back to his best. That is not the case. But he has made some progress in these last two tournaments.

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  37. ¤¤ Nadal, working towards regaining his best form after injury, earlier told a post-match news conference that he was pleased with how his season was progressing. “I’m playing a little better every day,” he said. “I said when I arrived in Buenos Aires I feel closer to level than one month ago.
    “Winning titles helps to continue working, the injuries are in the past, I have no physical problems. In terms of tennis, in the past I have been able to get back to my best level [after injury]. As you get older it gets harder but I don’t see why not, I have the motivation and passion.” ¤¤
    Read more:
    http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/02/nadal-monaco-argentina-open-clay-record

    Reply

  38. Rafa is always honest about where his game is at. He will know better than anyone when he’s back to his best.

    However, finally winning a title is a big step in the right direction!

    Vamos Rafa!!!

    Reply

  39. Congrats Rafa!!!

    So Rafa broke the milestone or is it 49 now? Even if its 49..its just matter of time before he will reach 49 and maybe many more.

    Reply

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