Join us for the Monte Carlo final. We’ll be blogging live on Sunday morning, April 27, at 6am (PST)/9am (EST)/3pm (CET).
It’s time for the ATP Fantasy Tennis Season so check out our Fantasy Tennis Guide. You’ll find Fast Facts, Strategies, and Statistics to help you play the game.
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The deadline for picking your team this week is SUNDAY, April 20, 5am EST, 11am CET.
Okay, right off the bat, here’s the deal. There are seven Masters Series tournaments (Monte Carlo, Rome, Hamburg, Canada, Cincinnati, Madrid, Paris) and three slams in this year’s fantasy tennis season. That’s three more Masters Series events than last year so you have to be smarter.
Let’s start with Rafael Nadal because he’s a bit easier. You have to pick him for Roland Garros and Wimbledon but he’s only ever reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open and that prize money is $140,000. So I’d pick him for Roland Garros and Wimbledon and three Masters Series events. Remember, you can only pick a player five times in one season.
Which Masters Series tournaments should you choose Nadal for? I’m not exactly sure at the moment and I don’t have much time to think about it because the ATP fantasy game moved its deadline up a day but, for sure, you should take Nadal for Monte Carlo. Later on we’ll figure out whether to take him for all three clay court events or not.
As for Roger Federer, you should pick him for all three slams and that leaves two Masters Series events. He’s more likely to win Hamburg than either Monte Carlo or Rome and he can probably pick up one of the summer hard court events so I would not pick him for Monte Carlo.
How about Novak Djokovic? Clearly you should pick him for all three slams and he won the Canadian Masters event last year so that leaves one more Masters event. I’m not yet convinced that he’s a good clay court player. He hasn’t gone past the quarterfinals in any of the Masters clay events and he got to the French Open semifinals last year on a very easy draw. I may use him at something like Stuttgart, which pays well, because I imagine that Nadal will be very tired out by then.
What to do with Nikolay Davydenko? I’d use him at Roland Garros and the U.S. Open, so that leaves three Masters events. He doesn’t have a good record at Monte Carlo and Juan Ignacio Chela has a 5-1 record over him so I’ll save him for later.
Who else would you pick if not those big players? Remember, we need eight players and that means we need two players from each quarter. Also keep in mind that many fantasy players will pick the top seeds in these early tournaments and have nothing left for later in the season. Your team might be ranked low now but you’ll be ahead later on.
Federer’s Quarter
I’m picking Nalbandian to beat Tommy Haas in the second round even though Haas is 3-0 over him because Nalbandian is 12-1 on clay so far this year. That means the big matchup is in the next round: David Nalbandian vs. Robin Soderling. Nalbandian did beat Soderling in Davis Cup last week but even though it was a home tie, it was such a tough five setter that Nalbandian was in tears afterwarda. I’m taking Soderling because hasn’t done much in slams and I can use Nalbandian later on.
I’m picking Fernando Verdasco as my second player from this quarter because he should get to the third round.
Djokovic’s Quarter
If not Djokovic, then who?
Andy Murray has never been past the second round of the clay court Masters events. To add insult to injury, James Blake has beaten him on red clay. Filippo Volandri lost in the first round here the last two years but he’s beaten Murray both times they’ve played on clay, so he should get to the third round but I’m not picking him and here’s why.
Richard Gasquet is a tough player to figure out. He’s never been past the third round at Roland Garros and I don’t expect that to change given his fragile psyche. You have to pick him for Wimbledon and I suppose we should wait and see about the U.S. Open. Not because he’s done well there but because he could. That still leaves us three Masters events for him and he does well at Monte Carlo so I’m picking him.
Carlos Moya should get to the third round and meet up with Gasquet so one of them will get to the quarterfinals. Volandri, on the other hand, will probably go out to Djokovic and only reach the third round and that’s why I’m picking Gasquet and Moya.
Davydenko’s Quarter
I’m not picking Davydenko either so who will it be?
Chela does okay at these clay Masters events when the opponent isn’t too tough. Philipp Kohlschreiber got to the quarterfinals as a qualifier last year and then won Munich but he hasn’t done anything on clay since so I’m going to gamble that Davydenko is tired and Chela beats him and gets to the quarterfinals.
Oy, Nicolas Almagro and Juan Monaco could play each other in the second round. Almagro just beat Monaco in Valencia and he’s in the final so he could be tired. Still, there’s no one else in the top part of this quarter that excites me so Almagro it is.
Nadal’s Quarter
I am picking Nadal so let’s see who I can pick in the top part of this quarter.
David Ferrer has three quarterfinal appearances at Monte Carlo and Paul-Henri Mathieu has none. Now, should I save Ferrer for later on since he’s unlikely to get past Nadal? I wouldn’t use him at Wimbledon but I could use him at the French Open and the U.S. Open depending on his draw. He has also a good record at Cincinnati. That still leaves me two events and he is in the final at Valencia tomorrow so I’m taking him.
My Picks
Soderling, Verdasco, Gasquet, Moya, Chela, Almagro, Nadal, Ferrer
Happy fantasies!