Today, two big men went into finals of clay events hoping to win a title on clay.

One man did.

John Isner combined a play of hard serving with consistency to get a win over Nicolas Almagro.  Despite Almagro’s rank as a top clay courter, the two have played each other close on clay.  Despite an early break down, Isner came back to break Almagro twice to win the first set 63.  The second set was tighter, but Isner came through to win the second set, 75.  Both are scheduled to play at Monte Carlo which started play today, so both will be in a rush to reach Monte Carlo to play their first match.

Tommy Robredo, who hasn’t played great in a number of years, having last won a title in 2011 in Santiago, but having lost primarily in first round matches this year except for a semi run in Buenos Aires losing to David Ferrer, finally broke though and beat Kevin Anderson in straight sets in Casablanca, Moroccco, 76 46 63.

The first Masters 1000 on clay starts today in Monte Carlo.  Three of the top four seeds are playing, the only one missing being Roger Federer.  David Ferrer is skipping Monte Carlo due to injury.  However, Ferrer played poorly at Monte Carlo last year and will drop a 10 point result.  Meanwhile, Nadal is the defending champ so he has to win just to keep pace and hope to get a fourth seed at the French.