The Mediterranean was heaving with ruffled waves just behind Centre Court on Wednesday, but world No. 1 Novak Djokovic took a much smoother path into the third round of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters as he swept past Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-4.
The sun was beginning to break through by the time Rafael Nadal, unbeaten here for seven straight years, had an equally untroubled time against Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, winning 6-4, 6-3. By then, Djokovic was in a press conference, talking about one of only two men to have beaten him this year, John Isner.
Having had a too-close-for-comfort look at the American’s serve while losing to him in the semifinal of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells last month, Djokovic, who lives here in Monaco, was a spectator when Isner was leading the US to victory over France in the Davis Cup with victories over Gilles Simon and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Was he surprised at how well Isner, who beat Roger Federer in Switzerland in the previous David Cup round, had done on European clay?
“Well, a little bit, yes,” Djokovic replied. “For somebody his height (6-foot-9) it’s a bit surprising the way he moves on clay. To play best-of-five as well as he does, you just have to congratulate him on that. But his top-10 success this year, beating me at Indian Wells . . . this is not too surprising for me because he has probably the biggest serve on the tour. People, I think, underestimate his second serve, which is even more efficient than the first serve.
"I think he adjusted a couple of things in his game, maybe the movement, going for his shots more. That’s all he needs to do, you know, because his serve is out there. He can play equally well on any surface with that serve.”
Coming from the world No. 1, that is not a bad accolade for Isner, who should be relishing the prospect of more clay-court tennis in Rome and Madrid in the coming weeks. And the French Open should now be viewed as a real goal.
As for Djokovic, who did not play this event last year but is now hoping to end Nadal’s astonishing run of victories in the principality, the match was everything he could have wished for.
“I think I served really well when I needed to,” he said. “That’s encouraging on clay. You have to be a bit more patient with your rallies. But the way I played today, I’m happy. I cannot be happier for the first official match on clay since the French Open. Looking forward to the next one.”
And that will be against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan who defeated the Italian Filippo Volandri 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.
Nadal had not lifted a racket for 15 days because of concerns about his knees. He had been forced to default his semifinal against Andy Murray in Miami because of a recurrence of an old injury but he seemed quite happy with his performance after only six days of practice.
“I believe I played a really normal match, nothing special,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing very bad. Nothing very good. After time away, your body loses a little bit the performance, no? That’s normal.”
Asked whether he worried about his knees when he played, Nadal replied: “I don’t think about that. I think about the ball. That’s enough work for me. I feel that I can play with no limitations today. But we’ll see.”
An interpretation of all that would seem to suggest that Rafa is not quite sure how far his knees, in their present state, are going to take him. With all his clay-court ranking points on the line from last year — winning here and reaching the final in Madrid and Rome and winning the French Open — it is a crucial question. We will know more after his next match, against the tricky Ukrainian, Alexandr Dolgopolov, who ousted the young Australian Bernard Tomic 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
David Ferrer, the No. 5 seed, was not worried about any particular part of his body as he drifted to a surprisingly one-sided defeat at the hands of the Brazilian left hander Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-2. He just felt generally exhausted. The little Spaniard has won three titles already this year: at Auckland, New Zealand; Buenos Aires; and Acapulco, Mexico, and has won a total of 24 matches — four more than Djokovic. With Barcelona coming up, Ferrer will relish a few days rest.
