With the opening of the Monte Carlo Country Club gates the clay court season begins.
So let’s take a look at five pressing questions as the tennis tour turns red…
Can Jack Draper be an all-surface threat?
A memory which has stayed with me from last season was the sight of Jack Draper slumped in his chair after a ghastly first-round defeat at Roland Garros. Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong, world No176, had played well but Draper was a perfect stereotype of the Brit on clay – slipping and sliding around and looking generally befuddled by the shifting sands beneath his feet.
The world No6’s win percentage on clay is 45 per cent, compared to 65 per cent on hard and 68 per cent on grass – but there is really no reason why he should not develop into a very fine dirtballer. As a kid he wore sleeveless tops to copy his fellow leftie idol Rafael Nadal – you may have heard that he was rather decent on the red dirt – and there are definite similarities to the great Spaniard in the way he strikes his forehand.
He could do with adding a little more height to his backhand on this surface, and his ongoing work on the kick serve becomes more urgent, but over the next couple of months Draper can prove he is a threat across all three surfaces.
A crushing victory over Marcos Giron in his first match in Monte Carlo on Tuesday evening was a perfect start to that endeavour.
Jack Draper’s crushing first round win in Monte Carlo was the perfect start to his clay season
Can Emma Raducanu finally settle with a new coach?
Emma Raducanu is keeping her head down. Having pulled out of Great Britain’s Davis Cup team for their qualifiers in the Netherlands this week I am told she is training away from the National Tennis Centre – away from prying eyes.
It has been a tumultuous and a busy year so far for this country’s most mercurial player. There was the ordeal of a stalker and Raducanu went on the worst run of her career, six defeats in seven. That was followed by her best tournament since winning the US Open in 2021 as she reached the quarter-finals in Miami, losing a close one to Jessica Pegula.
Most importantly, since a back spasm in pre-season she has stayed fully fit and played seven events pretty much back-to-back. That is a huge credit to the work she has been putting in with fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura.
But the absence of a coach is still a black hole in her setup and she really should be looking to lock that down before her next tournament. As she did in Miami, she loves to turn back to ad hoc advisers from her junior days but that is not a sustainable strategy. It is time to choose a coach and stick with them – at least until the end of Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu should be looking to lock down a new coach before her next tournament
How will the returning anti-hero fare?
The absence of the banned Jannik Sinner offered an opportunity for other top dogs to bark but they whimpered instead. Carlos Alcaraz won through an OK field in Rotterdam but did nothing else, Alexander Zverev has been appalling and Novak Djokovic, although he found form in Miami, could not finish the job. Instead it has been rising pups Draper and Jakub Mensik who have taken advantage in the first two masters events of the year.
Will Sinner’s return galvanize Zverev and Alcaraz? Or will the Italian transfer his dominance of hard courts on to the clay and grass? It would make sense for Sinner to have focussed on fine tuning his game for his weaker two surfaces during his enforced absence from the tour.
His three month ban ending just before the Italian Open in Rome looked convenient at the time – imagine if he now comes back with a souped-up game and leaves his flatlining rivals even further in the dust.
Jannik Sinner’s main rivals have faltered in the Italian’s absence during his doping ban
Can Iga Swiatek be dethroned?
Iga Swiatek’s 700-word cri de coeur in response to criticism she received for thwacking a ball which nearly hit a ball boy gave the impression of a mind in turmoil. She talked of being shattered by the pressure of attempting to regain her world No1 spot from Aryna Sabalenka. The Pole has played some good tennis in patches this year but is still without a title since last year’s Roland Garros.
This time last year she began a run of 26 wins in 28 matches on clay and the expectation is a return to her favourite surface will see a regaining of equilibrium. But with Sabalenka showing remarkable consistency and Mirra Andreeva rising it is far from certain Swiatek will dominate the European spring.
If her poor form bleeds over into the clay then Iga fans really should start to worry.
Iga Swiatek has been the dominant force on clay but could face greater opposition this season
Will the Brits actually win some matches?
Tradition goes that at this time of year when hedgehogs and badgers emerge from hibernation, British tennis players go into it. Last year between the seven Brit men and women who played tour level matches on clay in this phase of the season, they managed a miserable record of 11 wins and 29 defeats. No one made it past a quarter-final and at the French Open all six entrants lost in the first round.
Will we once again be bemoaning this country’s lack of clay courts come the middle of the first week at Roland Garros? As we said before, Draper ought to buck that trend this year but there could be slim pickings otherwise. Raducanu is unpredictable as always, Katie Boulter is off form and still a relative novice on clay, and Jacob Fearnley has not played a single match on the dirt in his career.
One who could surprise in Sonay Kartal. Beginning in GB colours this week in the Hague, her defensive, topspinny game should lend itself to clay.
Sonay Kartal could spring a surprise as British players look to earn some victorious on clay
Grand Slam winner hopes to help tame Rublev
What a delight to see Marat Safin back in tennis. One of the most enigmatic and intriguing figures in the sport, the two-time Grand Slam champion and former Russian politician has joined the coaching team of countryman Andrey Rublev.
Rublev has infamously struggled to contain his boiling emotions on the court and there is no one better to relate to him than a man who estimated he smashed between 700 and 1,000 rackets in his career.
Rublev is a charismatic figure and Safin, with his hexagonal sunglasses, still looks like one of the coolest cats in the sport. The world No9 says he wants the partnership to continue for many years – let’s hope it does.
Marat Safin, left, has joined Andrey Rublev’s coaching team and could help his fellow Russian
Monte Carlo a welcome return of a one-week Masters
How refreshing to be enjoying a one-week Masters event in Monte Carlo. As more and more events sprawl out across 10-plus days it is good to be reminded of what a tournament looks like with packed schedules and packed stands.
Two-week Masters mean more cash for the tournament and the tours but they are awful for fans, with far fewer matches per day. Players don’t like them either: yes, they get a few days off mid tournament but they would rather use the extra week to properly rest, train or play elsewhere.
Grand Slams should be two weeks (NOT 15 days, a pox on the Sunday starts), every other event should be one week. Simple.
Monte Carlo is a welcome and rare one week Masters tournament in the tennis calendar
One to watch
Arthur Fils
The 20-year-old Frenchman has modelled his game around countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and he certainly has the same explosive, irrepressible energy. Already up to world No15 he is almost certain to remain French No1 at Roland Garros – with all the attention and pressure that will bring.
Rising star Arthur Fils is one to watch as he heads towards the French Open as France’s No1
