Rafael Nadal showed that he’s still master of clay dispatching fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals of Monte Carlo.  He will face fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco in the finals.  Verdasco had a surprisingly easy match over number 1 seed and number 2 ranked player, Novak Djokovic, winning 6-2, 6-2 showing Djokovic has still not regained the form that made him a co-favorite to win the French last year.

Fernando Verdasco has never reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 final, let alone a final.  This will be his first.  However, given Nadal’s dominating run through the tournament, one feels that it’s Nadal’s tournament to lose.

Many had wondered if Nadal had lost his mental edge, but it seems, on his favorite surface, he’s got all the confidence he needs.  Should he lose to Verdasco, that would really signal that Nadal is still wrestling with mental toughness issues.  Verdasco is, at least, the kind of player that has the kind of firepower that might bother Nadal.  On hardcourts, Nadal has shown himself vulnerable to big serves and big groundstrokes, and Verdasco certainly fits this mold, at least, far more than David Ferrer or Juan Carlos Ferrero.  The one gotcha is his tendency to hit errors.

Andy Murray has reportedly headed to Barcelona to train.  He once trained their as a junior.  Although there is a tournament in Barcelona, Murray is not expected to play there.