The Mediterranean shimmers at one end of the court. Sheer rock cliffs tower behind the elegant clubhouse at the other end. In the middle is a court of clay. Enter, Rafael Nadal.

Nadal is a staggering 58-4 at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters since 2003, winning nine titles and $5.5 million from just this one stop on tour.

Can he win it again in 2017? To know what’s coming in the future, it is best to connect the clay court dots from the past. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of his successful 2016 campaign, when he dropped only two sets en route to his ninth Monte-Carlo title, identifies four key areas of dominance.

1. Break Points
Converting a break point against Nadal in Monte-Carlo is one of the toughest things to do in our sport. Period. Nadal saved 65 per cent (194/297) of his break points in the 2016 season, and that elevated to 72 per cent (34/47) in Monte-Carlo last year. The sea-level, clay-court conditions are tailor made for his high-bouncing, heavy-spin game.

The Spaniard defeated Dominic Thiem in the round of 16 here last year, saving a colossal 15 of 17 break points for the match. The key was making first serves in the important moments. There were 14 break points contested in the ad court. Nadal made 12 first serves. Three break points were played in the deuce court. Nadal made a first serve on two of them.

Overall, Thiem got a look at only three second serves out of 17 break points – and Nadal saved all three of them. These moments in time weigh heavily to the final outcome.

2. Returning
Nadal is far more lethal in Monte-Carlo returning a second serve than hitting one. Last year, when hitting his own second serve, he won only 49 per cent (53/108) of the points, but he won a mind-blowing 60 per cent (97/161) when returning his opponent’s second serves.

Nadal’s primary tactic is start well behind the baseline, let the second serve drop and crush a forehand return. He then looks to immediately improve his court position up around the baseline, where he finds superior geometry for his wicked spin.

Nadal converted a break point 56 per cent (14/25) of the time in Monte-Carlo last year receiving a second serve and 36.7 per cent (11/30) against a first serve.

3. Playing From In Front
Nadal is a nightmare to try and break when he gets a lead in his own service games.

2016 Monte-Carlo: Percentage Chance of Holding Serve

• 15/0 = 93.5% (29/31)

• 30/0 = 100% (19/19)

• 30/15 = 95.8% (23/24)

• 40/15 = 100% (20/20)

Nadal was extended to deuce only 16 times on serve in Monte-Carlo last year, losing just four of those service games. The pressure to hold is constant and adds another layer of strategic influence in the match for the Spaniard.

4. Time Is On His Side
During the 2016 season, Nadal averaged playing 47 minutes per set. That rose to 51 minutes in Monte-Carlo. Nadal uses time as a weapon on court, typically playing the match much more at his speed than that of his opponents. He certainly does not rush to the finish line.

All of the key ingredients from Nadal’s successful 2016 campaign will once again be on show this week. The game plan will be adjusted slightly for each opponent, but the road forward will still be dominated by these four key components.

Maybe Tommy Haas should reconsider this whole retirement thing.

The 39-year-old German, in the midst of his 10^th comeback, needed only 69 minutes to knock out Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

Haas, the oldest player in the draw, feasted on second serves, winning almost 80 per cent of his second-serve points and nearly 75 per cent of Paire’s. The win was Haas’ first in Monte-Carlo since 2004, when he beat Xavier Malisse. The right-hander hadn’t played at the Masters 1000 tournament since 2008.

“I think when you go out there and compete, you hope for the best, that is to try to play well and try to win,” Haas said. “Any time that happens, obviously, at this stage for me, it’s a very nice feeling, of course. I just try to build from that. Try to get stronger physically, get more used to playing matches again, points when it counts. You can do a lot of things in practice and off court, but you cannot replicate that for match play. I’m very happy to get another chance to go out there again tomorrow and keep working on my tennis game when it counts.”

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Haas improved to 2-4 on the season. He earned his first victory of the year last week in Houston by beating 19-year-old American Reilly Opelka in three sets.

Paire has been in good form. The right-hander, No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, was coming off a semi-final showing last week at the clay-court Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech. The 27 year old had won their previous FedEx ATP Head2Head match-up, after Haas had to retire because of illness down two sets to love earlier this season at the Australian Open.

“There is no better, bigger satisfaction than when you go out there, competing and winning. In this case for me, it’s a big satisfaction,” Haas said. “I’m very proud of the fact that I’m actually still out there, competing at this age. Due to setbacks and injuries I’ve had, I could have easily thrown in the towel a couple times. But I’m still out there trying to finish this game on my own terms. That’s what I’m doing. I’m proud of that.”

Haas will meet ninth seed Tomas Berdych in the second round. Their FedEx ATP Head2Head series is even at 2-all, but they haven’t played since 2012.

Gilles Simon came close, but there will be no shocking second-round upset against Novak Djokovic this year at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. The second seed battled and eventually fought off the Frenchman 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to move into the third round of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event.

The two-time champion (2013, 2015) improved to 11-1 against Simon in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The 29 year old will next meet #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov of Russia or 13^th seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain.

The second-round contest was Djokovic’s first ATP World Tour match since falling to Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open more than a month ago, on 15 March. The Serbian withdrew from the Miami Open presented by Itau because of a right elbow injury but did return to tour-level action earlier this month, dismissing Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in straight sets during Davis Cup play in Serbia.

Last year, after earning his fourth Sunshine Double in the U.S., Djokovic fell in the Monte-Carlo second round to then-World No. 55 Jiri Vesely, who celebrated his first Top 10 win and handed Djokovic only his second loss of the season.

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Adrian Mannarino recorded one of the biggest wins of his career on Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters when he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3 for a place in the third round.

World No. 56 Mannarino, who won two matches in qualifying and beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday, dictated with his potent backhand and forays to the net to improve to 2-18 lifetime against players in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. His only previous win over an elite player came against the then No. 8-ranked Stan Wawrinka in March 2015 at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

Seventh seed Tsonga got off to a fine start, sweeping to a 3-0 lead, but Mannarino recovered to 3-3 and, in hot conditions, the first set was decided by a tie-break. Tsonga took a 4/1 lead and finished the 52-minute opener with a forehand winner down the line. Mannarino responded to surge to a 5-0 lead in the second set, leaving a capacity crowd primed for a decider.

Having saved one break point in the third game of the deciding set, Mannarino broke Tsonga to 15 for a 3-1 lead. Tsonga, the 2013 and 2016 semi-finalist, continued to battle in his first match since 11 March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Tsonga got back to 3-4 but broke a string when hitting a forehand at 15/40 to gift Mannarino a chance to serve for the match. The 28-year-old Mannarino was not to be denied his seventh match win of the 2017 ATP World Tour season, which lasted two hours and five minutes.

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Tsonga became a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Shugar, on 18 March, and celebrated his 32nd birthday at the Monte-Carlo Country Club on Monday. Mannarino, who told reporters he had trained for 10 days prior to coming to the Monte-Carlo Country Club, will now meet French compatriot and No. 11 seed Lucas Pouille or Italian Paolo Lorenzi.

Pouille gained safe passage past the lone American in the draw, Ryan Harrison, 6-2, 6-4 in 72 minutes. Harrison, this year’s Memphis titlist, was playing his first tournament since getting married to Lauren McHale on 31 March in Austin, Texas. Lorenzi was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Marcel Granollers.

“It was a good start for the tournament, very solid,” said Pouille. “From the beginning to the end, I played well, except for one game where I got broken. Other than that, I’m very happy with this first round.”

Tommy Haas made a welcome return to the Monte-Carlo Country Club by beating Benoit Paire 6-2, 6-3 in 68 minutes. The oldest player in the draw, aged 39, is competing at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2008 and notched his first win since 2004 (d. Malisse, l. to Chela). Haas now gets a shot at ninth seed Tomas Berdych in the second round.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Tuesday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters & vote for the players you think will win! 
Djokovic vs Simon  |  Paire vs Haas  |  Goffin vs Almagro  

View Tuesday schedule and check back later for preview notes