There will come a time when things may not be going as you would hope them to be and the best way to fight through it is to make the most of the opportunities given to you. And for a few players, that opportunity was known as the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. While the usual Novak "Djoker" Djokovic found his way to the trophy at the end of the day, several players can take their inspired performances this week as platform to move forward through the clay court swing.

Eighth-seeded Marin Cilic, made only his second tournament appearance of the season having been sidelined with a persistent shoulder injury. Winless since his title run in Moscow, Cilic fought hard to overcome Florian Mayer in three sets to win his first match of the season. He then went on to edge 11th seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets before being dismissed 0-6, 3-6 to world number one Novak Djokovic. The Croat walks away having contested his first quarterfinal at a masters since March of 2013, and will look to build off that heading into Bucharest.

This columnist thinks it can be argued that for the past few years nobody was really considering Gael Monfils as a top 10 contender. While he had a brief stint at number 7 in the world in 2011 he never had the consistency or the game that could keep him anywhere near the top 10. Remember we are talking about the same man that nearly made two major semifinals last year. The 14th seed entered Monte Carlo asking if it was too late to still make a claim for it. After battling through his first two rounds, he edged world number two Roger Federer in straights followed by sweeping past ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to reach his first Masters semifinal in almost five years. The Frenchman will look to carry his momentum joining Cilic in Bucharest next week where he enters as the number two seed.

As the French Open draws closer, Rafael Nadal will be put into question on why he is still a huge threat to win the slam where he has been virtually unbeatable at for the last 10 years. The Spaniard has been going through one of the roughest patches in his entire career where he has won virtually nothing of importance since his title run in Paris last year, but is that enough to give Nadal just his second loss at the French Open? Maybe, but his performance in Monte Carlo may be a good sign of what's to come. The Spaniard toughed his way to the semifinals before falling to Djokovic 3-6,  3-6. While walking home with the title is normally considered a good week, considering the circumstances he's been going through, even Rafa is pleased with the turnout. “For me, is a very positive week. The most positive week of the season, without any doubt,” said Nadal. “I think, if I am able to keep doing that in the next tournament in Barcelona, and I have a tough draw, I will say that I am very well again." The Spaniard had notched his first top ten win since May of last year with his win over Ferrer in the quarterfinals, and may potentially have a rematch his compatriot as they head into Barcelona this week.

Having had a start to the season similar to his dominant season in 2011, Novak Djokovic is relentless as he continues to chase more history. With the title win, Djokovic has won his last 11 Masters finals, became the first player to ever win the first three Masters 1000s of the season, and drew level with Roger Federer on the all time leader list for most Masters 1000 titles. After another dominant showing this week he now rides on a 17 match winning streak, but for the Serb wins won't mean a thing until he is standing on the podium in Paris holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires. 

"The fact that now I won (the first) three Masters 1000 in a row and nobody ever has done that, of course I'm aware of that. That has given me more motivation. I'm very proud of what I have achieved. It can only serve as an incentive, imperative for what's coming up."