Transitioning from one playing surface to another is generally not conducive to producing the best tennis from anyone.  Unfortunately for the players, Monte Carlo, the first stop for the ATP on the European clay-court swing, is a Masters 1000 event, so fair or not, it is the initial yardstick by which many measure a player's odds of performing well in Paris.  Sadly for Roger Federer, he did not look as good as he had hoped straight out of the gates.

It arguably was not reasonable to expect much out of Federer this week.  Not only was he making his first foray onto the clay this season, but after opting to sit out the Miami Open, it also marked his first competitive match in nearly a month.  Furthermore, while he has made multiple finalist appearances in Monte Carlo, including last season, he has not been immune to early defeats here either.  With his game no longer readily as sharp as it was in his prime, it was always going to be a bit of a tall task for him to quickly find his range and potentially vie for this title.

Yet, even while recognizing the challenges Federer faced this week, his premature exit in the third round to Gael Monfils has to carry a little extra sting.  A loss like this puts a dent in his momentum and is more reminiscent of the Federer who floundered in 2013 than the Federer who played so brilliantly in 2014.  It also puts him behind the proverbial eight-ball for the remainder of the clay season, placing him under added pressure to perform well in Istanbul and Madrid before he arrives in the French capital for the year's second major. 

Added pressure aside, perhaps the even bigger drawback for Federer this week was the halt it put to the momentum he has built up throughout the first quarter of 2015.  Outside his stunning loss in Melbourne, the Swiss had already managed to put together a strong season.  He has won titles in Brisbane and Dubai, and he very nearly got the better of Novak Djokovic in the final of Indian Wells.  No doubt he was optimistic of continuing this trend on the red dirt and was sorely disappointed to come up short. 

Adding insult to injury was the way he succumbed to defeat here in Monte Carlo.  He never did look overly secure out there, particularly off the backhand wing. Equally as worrisome was his play in the second-set tiebreak against Monfils, when he went up a mini-break only to surrender four consecutive points and ultimately the match.  His level of tennis in tiebreaks has developed into a troubling pattern in recent months, too, as evidenced by his sub-par 1-4 record in them thus far in 2015.  The lone tiebreak he did win came against Djokovic in that Indian Wells final, and that had more to do with the Serb's nerves than anything else.  It is therefore fair to raise the question of just how clutch Federer is feeling in those big moments.  He is going to have to get over that mental hump that is possibly developing if he hopes to turn things around before Roland Garros.

Of course, many people believe Federer capable of turning things around before Paris.  He himself alluded to the fact that most players are not going to be at their best this week, and while he admitted he definitely did not feel completely comfortable out there, he did get some valuable information out of his stint at Monte Carlo.  Lest anyone forget, he also lost at this same stage back in 2009 before going on to claim his maiden French Open title. Suffice it to say, this was by no means a make-or-break week for the Swiss.  But Federer does not boast the same level of fear-factor that he did six years ago.  He needs to quickly regain the form that brought him so much success earlier this season by performing well in Istanbul and Madrid to bounce back from what was unquestionably a setback in Monte Carlo.