Roger Federer Fails to Convince in Monte Carlo Win in Struggle for Form

Just in case anybody should doubt his credentials on the surface, Roger Federer regularly likes to remind everybody that he is the "second best clay-court player" in the world, though it always sounds somewhat lame. Now Rafael Nadal, who has beaten Federer in the last three finals both here as well as in the last three French Open finals, has also relegated the Swiss to second place on grass and hard courts too. Small wonder that Federer, other than making up his mind to get married last weekend, remains riddled with doubt, with Andy Murray sensing that he may possibly overtake him in the rankings this year.

Federer made use of a sports psychologist early in his career, when he frequently lost control on court. It has been suggested he might employ one again as he struggles to assert his former supremacy, and equal Pete Sampras's record of 14 grand-slam titles. He is not convinced of any such need now, though, and explained: "It was more like anger management. I pretty quickly realized it was basically up to me and not someone else to tell me how to behave."

This stubbornness, which some might call arrogance, has seen him attempt to shrug off his stuttering form without much outside help, and although he won his opening match 6-4, 6-4 against Italy's Andreas Seppi here today, once again there were tell-tale moments of uncertainty. These might be expected when any player switches from one surface to another, but they have become symptomatic of Federer's shaky confidence, undermined first by Nadal and now Murray.

Nadal, attempting to win his fifth consecutive title here, had his own moments of uncertainly, at one stage losing 11 consecutive points, before defeating Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-3. But that little blip had nothing to with any lack of confidence, the world No1 stretching his win-loss ration to 134-4 on clay since 2005. It was just a little rustiness.

Murray, in the same half of the draw as the Spaniard, tomorrow plays Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarter-finals, his first ever on clay, the Italian qualifier having surprisingly defeated Croatia's Marin Cilic, a top 20 player, 6-2, 6-0 today.