Top 5 Contenders at Monte Carlo Masters 2018

After quite surprising results at the Miami Masters and Indian Wells Masters, the clay court season is about to kick off. The US hardcourt season projected two new winners, Juan Martin Del Porto and John Isner, who will try to continue their winning run.

The Australian Open champion Roger Federer has decided to skip the entire clay court season yet again and will hope to come back stronger at Wimbledon. The Swiss maestro lost the World No.1 ranking to his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal after a shock defeat in the Miami Open.

Let us look at the top contenders on the red dirt:

Rafael Nadal

The "King of Clay" is back after an injury layoff which forced him to miss all events post the Aussie Open. The Spaniard made his comeback at the Davis Cup, winning back to back matches against Philipp Kohlschreiber (6-2, 6-2, 6-3) and Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-4, 6-4) and helped his team win against Germany.

After winning both his Davis cup ties, Nadal reasserted that he is still the man to beat on his beloved surface.The defending champion at Monte Carlo has a huge chunk of points to defend this season and might have a potential quarterfinal clash with the 2016 French Open winner Novak Djokovic. The duo last met almost a year ago at the Madrid Masters when Nadal won in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic

Can Nole spark a comeback?

The former World No.1 had a slam less 2017 and seems to have finally recovered from a lingering elbow injury. After his split with Andre Agassi, he is back with his former coach Marian Vajda, with whom he had an extremely successful run.

Marian will certainly boost Novak's confidence and help him in reigniting the old spark. Novak has slipped to No.13 in the ATP Rankings and might face Dominic Thiem as early as the third round.

Grigor Dimitrov

The World No.5 hasn't been in form this season and will be looking to make amends at the starting of clay calendar.

He has been placed in the top half alongside the Rafael Nadal and might potentially face David Goffin in the quarterfinals. The Bulgarian has a tough draw and might encounter the clay-court prodigy Philipp Kohlschreiber and Benoit Paire en-route his way to the final.

Marin Cilic

Can he find his feet on clay?

The number third-seeded Marin Cilic started the year with an impressive performance but since then, he hasn't been able to capitalise on it. The Croatian will face either Fernando Verdasco or Pablo Cuevas in the opening round, which poses a huge threat to his campaign.

If he passes the opening test, he is likely to face Milos Raonic in the third round. The Aussie Open runner-up needs to be consistent with his groundstrokes and minimise the unforced errors.

Other Contenders

Alexander Zverev can pose a potential threat to the top player's campaign. After the disappointing loss at the hands of Nadal at the Davis Cup, the German will be eager to shrug the defeat. On the other hand, Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori have the capability to destroy any opponent on their day.

With a few top players missing out due to injuries, it gives a strong chance to young guns to come out on top. But if Nadal, the ten-time Monte Carlo champion gets going, then it'll surely be his eleventh title this year.