Roger Federer's Monte Carlo exit not a worrying setback, says Peter Fleming

Roger Federer can still compete with the clay court specialists, despite his early exit at the Monte Carlo Masters, says Peter Fleming.

The world No 2 endured a surprising setback in his first clay court tournament of the season, slumping to a 6-4 7-6 defeat to Gael Monfils.

Federer, a French Open winner in 2009, has undertaken a busy schedule as he pursues another title in Paris.

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The return to fitness of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s dominance could scupper the Swiss star’s ambitions, but Fleming expects the World No 2 to challenge for silverware in the next few weeks.     

“I still think he could threaten every week," said the Sky Sports expert. “He didn’t play his best today, but it was his first tournament on clay. He’s going to have another couple of weeks practice before Rome and Madrid.

“I think that he is striking the ball beautifully. Why can’t he challenge? If Rafa’s not at his best, then Federer is a contender for any one of these clay court competitions.”        

Monfils made the most of Federer's 38 unforced errors, eventually edging out last year's losing finalist in the tie-break.

In spite of this erratic display, Fleming insists that Federer only lost due to fine margins.  

Why can’t he challenge? If Rafa’s not at his best, then Federer is a contender for any one of these clay court competitions.

“Roger Federer was just a point away from taking the match, potentially,” he said.

“At 5-3 in the second set tie-breaker, I wasn’t going to bet against Federer, and yet he didn’t quite have the accuracy to pull it off.

“He made a bad unforced error at 5-3, but perhaps he was just a little bit on the back foot because Monfils had been so aggressive and had hit so many winners from the baseline.

“Maybe Roger thought he had to do more than he actually really did.”