Bob Larson's Tennis News | Monte-Carlo Tuesday Summary

Singles - First Round: R Haase def. (11) J Monaco 7-5 0-6 2-3, retired (right ankle)
The big story on this day seemed to be of players coming in from small events and then losing at the big one. Not the smartest strategy; Juan Monaco will not rise above his current #14 and may well fall.

Singles - First Round: (12) K Nishikori def. A Ramos 6-2 7-5
Albert Ramos has been playing very well, and he likes clay -- but he came here tired. That may be why this wasn't closer. The loss means no Top Forty spot for Ramos; indeed, it appears he will fall a spot or two.

Singles - First Round: S Wawrinka def. (10) F Lopez 6-1 6-4
Feliciano Lopez really faced two opponents here: Stanislas Wawrinka, who is tough enough on clay, and jet lag. Little wonder he was so far off! He isn't likely to fall in the rankings (he has a lead of hundreds of points over the next active players), but he loses any chance of regaining his Top Fifteen spot.

Singles - First Round: (Q) M Kukushkin def. (14) F Mayer 3-6 6-1 6-3
Florian Mayer has seemed pretty fragile this year. We have to suspect he broke down again -- although he did win in doubles. In all likelihood he will lose his Top Twenty ranking.

Singles - First Round: A Seppi def. (Q) V Hanescu 6-3 6-1
This isn't enough points to count for Andreas Seppi, but one more win would take him very close to the Top Forty.

Singles - First Round: F Fognini def. M Llodra 7-5 6-3
This place likes Frenchmen, but Frenchmen often don't like clay.... Michael Llodra will remain below #45.

Singles - First Round: T Bellucci def. K Anderson 6-4 6-4
This is a mild upset based on rankings, but probably not based on surfaces. It means no Top Thirty ranking for Kevin Anderson, though.

Singles - First Round: (Q) F Gil def. M Youzhny 6-1 6-3
Good news for Frederico Gil, whose ranking just took a big hit. Mikhail Youzhny doesn't lose any points, but it still appears he will fall a little, simply because a lot of players are adding points.

Singles - First Round: (WC) P Starace def. C Berlocq 4-2, retired (left calf)
Carlos Berlocq seems to be paying for his success earlier this year. At least he should stay Top Forty.

Singles - First Round: F Volandri def. (Q) A Giannessi 7-5 6-3
Alessandro Giannessi has now lost his opener at his last two ATP events. And he only has three events in all!

Singles - First Round: P Andujar def. (Q) F Delbonis 3-6 6-4 6-2
Pablo Andujar just keeps winning -- he's the exception to the rule about last week's players struggling here. He hasn't moved much yet (maybe one ranking spot), but any additional wins could take him a lot higher.

Singles - First Round: M Cilic def. (Q) S Bolelli 6-3 6-4
More evidence of progress for Marin Cilic, but he needs a semifinal to get back to the Top Twenty.

Singles - Second Round: (3) A Murray def. V Troicki 6-0 6-3
If Andy Murray can keep this up, he actually will have a chance to overtake Rafael Nadal this spring. Not this week, though. There is a slight chance that this will cost Viktor Troicki his Top Thirty ranking, although all the biggest threats to him have already lost.

Singles - Second Round: (4) J Tsonga def. P Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber, for instance, was a Top Thirty threat -- but no longer.

Singles - Second Round: (13) F Verdasco def. I Dodig 6-2 6-4
Ivan Dodig was defending Barcelona semifinalist points, so this will probably drop him to around #80.

Doubles - First Round: Murray/Murray def. S Gonzalez/Kas 6-4 6-3
It is rather amazing how many top singles players are in the doubles here. Tuesday alone, we saw five Top 25 players: Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco, Florian Mayer, and Alexander Dolgopolov. The results were rather mixed; three won, two lost.

Doubles - First Round: Mayer/Melzer def. (WC) Clement/Lisnard 7-5 6-4

Doubles - First Round: Granollers/M Lopez def. Qureshi/Rojer 6-4 6-4

Doubles - First Round: Marach/Peya def. Butorac/Soares 6-2 3-6 12-10
We had some pretty strong unseeded teams here. Too bad so many of them faced other strong unseeded teams, as in this match.

Doubles - First Round: Marrero/Verdasco def. Berdych/Dolgopolov 7-5 6-2