I watched this match and I really am impressed with Nadal. He is so competitive. He really knows how to raise his game and play with such confidence on clay courts. I guess 67 straight match wins on the red brick will do that for a player. I don't really think Federer is much closer to figuring how to beat Nadal on clay but you have to admire his effort. He didn't seem to play that well. He had opportunities but missed a lot of easy forehands. He doesn't seem to have his usual edge when he plays the against Rafa. I think the reason for this is mostly Rafa. His style of play keeps Federer uncomfortable. Roger has to figure out a way to shorten the court and compress Nadal's game. He need to play with much more certainty to accomplish this.

Check out the highlights from Monte Carlo below and let me know what you think. Can Federer beat Nadal this year on clay?

First things first. The Fed-Rafa final in Monte Carlo will be shown on Tennis Channel at 8:30am EST and 5:30am Pacific. So, set you Tivo and DVRs if you are not an early riser. They will also show an encore at 8pm EST on Sunday night. That may be hard to do since the rest of the tennis world may report the result.

Where to Find Tennis Channel?

NYC- TimeWarner Cable- 455
Dish Network- 400
Miami Comcast-277
LA Area Time Warner- 264

If you don't see your City here go to the top right side of TheSlycer and you will see "Tennis Channe Search". Click on the link then go to the middle left side of the Tennis Channel page and punch in your zip code!

MONTE CARLO FINAL:
This match up is so intriguing on many levels. Here is my perspective from a tactics standpoint.

NADAL GAME PLAN:
It will be important for Nadal to get off to a fast start by serving well and running Federer around to nullify his forehand and his ability to mix it up with net play. As usual, look for Nadal to pressure the backhand of Federer to apply this strategy. Typically, he does this with astronimical first serve percentages. Nadal is a heck of a front runner and is so mentally tough to beat when his game is on. It is safe to say he has been on this week having trounced the field up to this point and now has won 66 straight clay court matches.

FEDERER GAME PLAN:
Serving will be big for Federer as well as it will allow him to control the points and play aggressively on his return game. It will be curious to see if Federer learned anything watching Andy Murray play Nadal as the Australian Open. I that match Murray mixed his pace well and moved Nadal around on a hard court. Murray just didn't have the serve or closing skills of Federer and the match wasn't on red clay. Federer watched that match on TV from his hotel. Did Murray's tactics intrigue the World #1?

Below is a highlight of the Semi-Final between Federer and Ferrero. It is a bit tough to watch since you can't see the ball in the broad shots but you get a feel for Roger's ability to play an all court game on clay which I think he will have to do to win on Sunday.

FEDERER / FERRERO HIGHLIGHTS