Rafa Nadal returned to Monte Carlo, where he’s lifted the title on eight occasions, and felt straight at home on the Monegasque claycourts with a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 victory over Aljaz Bedene.
The Spaniard alternated ups and down in his play and could have finished with a more convincing scoreline were it not for his erratic forehand. It is just the first of many stops on the European claycourt swing and a first chance for all players to gauge where their tennis is at on the red stuff. For Nadal it is a fundamental moment in his season and career; a chance to feel he belongs at the top once again, and the Monte Carlo fans gave him an ovation fitting for an eight-time champion.
Nadal raced away to a 5-1 lead in the first set but once again struggled to close out a set when mistakes started to creep into his game and Bedene started to swing freely. The Majorcan started the second set with an early break but continued to play with the same doubts that hindered him towards the end of the first set. Just like in Miami, it seems that the areas where Nadal has to work on the most (besides his well-known problems on serve) are his forehand (which historically has been his stronger wing) and his movement, which perhaps is just a case of adapting to clay.
In the end Nadal made it to the finish line but it is not a win he will remember in years to come but it was an all-important first win at Monte Carlo in what he hopes is the start of a road to former glory with the final stop being in Paris. As tends to be the case at Masters 1000 events, there is no time to lose, as Nadal faces an extremely tough test in the next round in the shape of Dominic Thiem. The Austrian has already defeated the Spaniard on clay this season and is tipped to be one of the underdogs at Roland Garros this year, despite struggling in his first two rounds in Monaco, dropping a set in each encounter against Jan-Lennard Struff and Taro Daniel.
It will be the biggest clash in the third round and a chance for Dominic Thiem to present his candidature to the selected few who can be considered in the running to lift the French Open title or an opportunity for Rafa Nadal to turn a page on his previous defeat against the Austrian and continue to build momentum at a crucial stage of his career.
