Dear Reader,

Monte Carlo has come and gone with a déjà vu final, albeit more competitive and closer than last year’s final. I have the feeling that the French Open this year will not be a Nadal-Federer final and that someone else will emerge to challenge this clay court duopoly – but so far Davydenko, Ferrer and Djokovic were unable to make an impression in Monte Carlo. Federer certainly is the more brittle of the two but escaping a 2nd round defeat from 5-1 down in the 3rd set has certainly settled him down and we can expect a stern challenge from Roger again this clay court season. Nalbandian again showed what he is capable of doing on a tennis court but sustaining his mind throughout a two-week Slam has so far eluded him. He is certainly capable of winning the French, but I can’t see him beating a fired up Nadal in a final. Andy Murray melted at the end of the Djokovic match with a very poor last game and somehow has to channel his competitive irritation into a consistent competitive fight against his opponent rather than against the world at large. It seems like this irritation grabs hold and he can not shake it off, or two many games/points pass before he gets control of it and at this level it is all an opponent needs to gain the upper hand. Give a top 10 player a sniff of the winning post and like a great racehorse turning for home they will accelerate and be very hard to beat.

After Miami the Women’s WTA Tour seems to sit in a dead patch with the top women either not playing or sporadically appearing at different tournaments so we will have to wait for Rome to see how everyone is shaping up for the French. Serena and Venus are definitely back in the groove which is good for tennis although Serena is the one who I believe is a potential winner. Henin will be a clear favourite and I see Jankovic and Ivanovic as her top challengers with Sharapova, Kuznetsova and Serena in group a below on the clay.

Wes Moodie consolidated his ascent up the doubles rankings with another Masters Series semi-final in Monte Carlo. He and Jeff Coetzee are now in the top 4 doubles teams for 2008.

MCTA also welcome Stefy Boffa as a player who is now a regular part of our programme. Stefy is currently in Mexico for two Challengers before moving on to the USA for two tournaments. Last week Anna and Stefy made the quarter-finals of 10k in Mexico struggling to come to terms with the altitude. Jason Torpey is travelling with them. Jason did a lot of work with Jim Edgar as a player and after retiring became a coach at the Hallamshire Club (Anna’s home town club) and has regularly worked with Anna over the past 2 years as a practice partner and MCTA welcome his involvement. Antony “Hampo” Hampson is currently taking a sabbatical from the extensive travel of the world’s first touring academy. The job of a coach on the Tour is fantastic and rewarding but also comes with huge sacrifices on family, friends and regular social life.

Activity and progress by MCTA players over the past 6 weeks has been excellent so please visit www.mctacademy.com for all the up to date news.

So long for now,


David