Barcelona and Bucharest previews and predictions

Although there is no Masters 1000 series action for just the second time in a span of seven weeks, the clay-court swing will continue with plenty of interest in Barcelona and Bucharest. Rafael Nadal captured his first Monte-Carlo title since 2012 on Sunday and he now heads to an event that he has won on eight occasions. Nadal is joined on the entry list by Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer, and Richard Gasquet. In Bucharest, Bernard Tomic and defending champion Guillermo Garcia-Lopez are among those vying for the trophy.

Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell

Where: Barcelona, Spain
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 2,152,690 Euros
Points: 500

Top seed: Rafael Nadal
Defending champion: Kei Nishikori

Draw analysis: Nadal appears to be back in business, and not a moment too soon. With next month’s French Open on the horizon, Nadal kicked off his clay-court swing by getting the job done in Monte-Carlo. The world No. 5, who last triumphed in Barcelona three years ago, should have no trouble in the early rounds. Five of the six players in the top eighth of the bracket are Spaniards and the other is Nadal’s good friend Joao Sousa. Nadal awaits either Daniel Munoz de la Nava or Monte-Carlo quarterfinalist Marcel Granollers in the second round. The top seed’s path to the title match may also include Fabio Fognini in the quarters and Ferrer in the semis. Both Fognini and Ferrer, however, have been short on confidence and high on injuries.

Nishikori, whose nearest seed is Jeremy Chardy, finds himself with a similar draw to that of Nadal. The Japanese star may not run into serious difficulty until the last eight against either Roberto Bautista Agut or Alexandr Dolgopolov. Gasquet, on the other hand, faces a potentially taxing road. His first two opponents could be teenagers (Hyeon Chung and Alexander Zverev) prior to a possible quarterfinal tilt against an in-form Pablo Cuevas.

Second-round upset alert: Nicolas Almagro over (6) Benoit Paire. From just about out of nowhere, Paire picked up some much-needed momentum in Monte-Carlo. He did it after saving a match point in his opener against Inigo Cervantes. But the week ended in significant disappointment, as the Frenchman squandered a set and a double-break lead against Andy Murray in the third round. Almagro leads the head-to-head series 1-0, having defeated Paire 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 four years ago in Acapulco.

Another seed who will likely go down right away is No. 15 Thomaz Bellucci, but it would hardly come as a surprise or be considered an upset if Zverev is his opponent. Zverev first has to get past qualifier and fellow German Jan-Lennard Struff.

Hot: Rafael Nadal, Roberto Bautista Agut, Pablo Cuevas, Andrey Kuznetsov, Alexander Zverev, Marcel Granollers

Cold: David Ferrer, Benoit Paire, Fabio Fognini, Thomaz Bellucci, Ernests Gulbis, Radek Stepanek, Denis Istomin, Ivan Dodig

Quarterfinal predictions: Rafael Nadal over Fabio Fognini, Philipp Kohlschreiber over David Ferrer, Pablo Cuevas over Richard Gasquet, and Kei Nishikori over Roberto Bautista Agut

Semifinals: Nadal over Kohlschreiber and Cuevas over Nishikori

Final: Nadal over Cuevas

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BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy

Where: Bucharest, Romania
Surface: Clay
Prize money: 463,520 Euros
Points: 250

Top seed: Bernard Tomic
Defending champion: Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Draw analysis: A particularly intriguing top half of the draw features Tomic, Garcia-Lopez, Guido Pella, Lukas Rosol, and Robin Haase. Garcia-Lopez is the defending champion of this event and Haase has captured each of his two career ATP titles at 250s on clay (in Kitzbuhel). Tomic, who is competing on clay for just the second time in 2016, could open with the Dutchman before possibly facing Paul-Henri Mathieu in the quarterfinals. Garcia-Lopez awaits either Rosol or Kyle Edmund in the second round. The Spaniard and the Czech have gone head-to-head five times–including twice in Bucharest–and it is safe to say there is no love lost between the two.

In a wide open bottom half of the bracket, Marrakech champion Federico Delbonis and a red-hot Lucas Pouille are most likely to take advantage. Due mostly to a knee injury, No. 2 seed Ivo Karlovic has not won a single match this season (0-5). Fifth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis double-bageled Diego Schwartzman in Houston earlier this month, but he got crushed by Jack Sock in the quarters and generally does much better work on hard courts. Schwartzman, himself, is in this half of the draw and is in line for a difficult opening-round battle with Paolo Lorenzi.

First-round upset alert: Diego Schwartzman over (7) Paolo Lorenzi. Although Lorenzi has been impressive this year while Schwartzman has struggled, the head-to-head series suggests a competitive contest could be in the cards. Lorenzi holds a 2-1 edge (one Challenger victory included), but each of his victories has come in final sets (including two months ago in Buenos Aires). Schwartzman beat the Italian 7-5, 6-4 last season in Sao Paulo. Interspersed with some strong 2016 results, Lorenzi has lost his opening match at four tournaments.

Hot: Federico Delbonis, Damir Dzumhur, Lucas Pouille, Kyle Edmund

Cold: Ivo Karlovic, Dudi Sela, Diego Schwartzman

Semifinal predictions: Garcia-Lopez over Tomic and Delbonis over Pouille

Final: Garcia-Lopez over Delbonis

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