The Monte Carlo Masters is underway, but the headliners have yet to get into action. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal were given a bye to the second round, and are looking forward to getting their tournament started.

World number one Novak Djokovic sprained his ankle playing for Serbia in the Davis Cup last weekend. He has practised the last two days but has not fully recovered.

The two-time runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the glamourous event by the Mediterranean, Djokovic will not be risking his health, but the injury will not prevent him from playing in upcoming events.

Djokovic said, "The condition of the ankle is getting better, more positive than negative, better than I actually expected it to be in the beginning of the week when I had the first MRI and some analysis of trying to diagnose what is going on and if there has been any bigger damage. There hasn't been any bigger damage which is encouraging."

Briton Andy Murray is in a confident mood after winning the recent Miami Masters event to move to number two in the world but realises that to topple Djokovic from the top of the rankings, he will need to be at his best on all surfaces.

Murray said, "I think getting to number one is extremely hard. It takes a lot of work. I think getting from 100 to 50 is hard and getting from 50 to 20 is even harder and so on. Going from two to one is a very hard step to make so I'm going to need to put in a lot of work and be very, very consistent on all of the surfaces throughout the whole year, if I want to have a chance of that."

Rafael Nadal has won the Monte Carlo Masters eight years in a row - an open era record for consecutive titles at the same tournament. He returned to action in February after missing seven months with a knee injury. Since then the Spaniard has triumphed at events in Brazil, Mexico and Indian Wells in the United States.

8-time champion Rafael Nadal said, "I'm very happy to be here in Monte Carlo. It's a place that I love, without a doubt. Each time I'm here the experience is very, very special. I'm very happy to return to compete here, and I'm aiming to make things as good as possible to arrive well prepared on Wednesday for my first game."

The world number five also says he is no longer burdened by expectations and pressure heading into the European claycourt season.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)