If anyone thought that they'd seen the end of Rafael Nadal last year, they were wrong. Not only is the Spanish bull back but he's playing better than ever. Nadal's display at this years Monte Carlo Masters could be catalogued as the best clay court performance in the history of the game.
Let's recall Rafa's devastating route to the title: 1st Round def. De Bakker 6/1 6/0, 2nd Round def. Berrer 6/0 6/1, Quarter-Finals def. Ferrero 6/4 6/2, Semi-Finals def. Ferrer 6/2 6/3 and Final def. Verdasco 6/0 6/1.
That's a total of 10 sets won and none lost, 60 games won and 14 lost. Simply brutal. Before the final Verdasco's big shots seemed like they could cause some damage, maybe he'd be the first person to really take the game to Nadal but it is ever so disheartening to play against a human wall. Everything comes back and it comes back with bad intentions.
So after the first week of top class clay court tennis we can come to certain conclusions: The Spanish Armada is as powerful as ever taking up three of the four semi-finals spots, David Nalbandian could well be on the road to recovery, Juan Carlos Ferrero can go far in upcoming draws as long as he avoids Nadal, Verdasco has finally broken the quarter-final barrier and it's going to take something very special to stop Rafa from taking back his crown at Roland Garros.
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