Did Monte Carlo straight set loss to Djokovic hurt or help Nadal towards his eventual goal of winning Roland Garros?

Even though Nadal would have loved it but beating an 'in full flight' Djokovic even on clay after storming through three clay Mickey Mouse tournaments infested with tomato cans after a seven month break couldn't have been even a realistic dream. Beating Federer, Berdych and Del Potro on a hard court may not have been bad but when you place their cumulative record next to Djokovic just for this season, the inevitability of what transpired gets into focus.

Nadal was lucky that Djokovic didn't pull out due to the ankle injury to allow the reality to set in at an even later date AND much closer to Roland Garros to further narrow down the window to 'straighten' up - in time. Now Nadal has three FULL tournaments to ramp up the elevation, the urgency of which would have taken a massive hit if either Nadal had won @ Monte Carlo or Djokovic wasn't there at all.

But the problem is THIS: Nadal has NO options because of the one-two punch: Nadal is SO set in his ways that there's NOTHING he can add to what he already owns without disrupting the core AND that Djokovic is CLEARLY operating at a far higher plain. Barely improving on what he already owns first may not be even enough and second the time allotted to get there before the big party may not be sufficient.

However, IF Nadal is able to turn this around even in the nick of time, the added juice that journey will evoke may not only wash away the wounds preceding it but it may also fill up basket with carrots that were not even on the table - past the big event. I mean, at this point, Nadal HAS to be ALL about Slams - at an 'open' expense of everything else including what's possible on his favorite surface. His legacy as the greatest clay court player is so secure that passing over that scenery will make no difference even if fruits sought at it's expense do not land in the bag.

Translation: No matter how you slice it, this lopsided a score @ Monte Carlo cannot but cast a long shadow on Nadal's prospects @ Roland Garros. Question is if it's the shadow that's protecting the harvest from being burnt due to excessive sunlight or is of the kind that will stiffle the fruit growth by blocking sunlight - forever.