Rafael Nadal will kick off his Barcelona campaign on Wednesday against familiar foe and fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro. Ernests Gulbis and Benoit Paire are also in second-round action.
Nicolas Almagro vs. (2) Rafael Nadal
Nadal and Almagro will be squaring off for the 13th time in their careers when they collide in round two of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 11-1 in Nadal’s favor after the world No. 1 cruised 6-4, 6-2 last month on the hard courts of Miami. They have faced each other three times in Barcelona, where Almagro scored his only win via a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 decision in 2014. Nadal is still 8-1 lifetime against his fellow Spaniard on clay.
Like last year, Nadal is struggling as he heads into this event. The No. 2 seed lost early in Indian Wells and Miami before falling to Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3 in the Monte-Carlo semifinals. Almagro missed much of last season with a foot injury, but he owns nine victories in 2015–including a semifinal showing in Buenos Aires. The world No. 123 is coming off a quarterfinal appearance in Monte-Carlo and he eased through his opener on Tuesday by getting a retirement from Paolo Lorenzi at 3-0 in the first set. Almagro is a difficult opponent this early in the tournament, but Nadal at least showed some encouraging signs in Monte-Carlo and he boasts a 42-2 record in Barcelona with eight titles.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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(8) Ernests Gubis vs. Benoit Paire
Gulbis has been a mercurial performer throughout his career, but never had he descended into this drastic of a funk until now. The Latvian is a horrendous 1-8 on the season and his only win has come at the expense of a lucky loser (Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Indian Wells). Things went from bad to worse for Gulbis last week in Monte-Carlo, where he got blown out by Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-1, 6-0.
Up next for Gulbis is a second career meeting with Paire. Their only previous encounter came three years ago on the clay courts of Gstaad, where Gulbis prevailed 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4. Paire advanced to the Barcelona second round by defeating qualifier Jaume Munar 6-2, 6-2 on Monday. The 78th-ranked Frenchman is 4-3 at the ATP level in 2015 and he also owns two Challenger titles and one Futures trophy. With Paire starting to round back into form and Gulbis slumping, this should be one-way traffic.
Pick: Paire in 2 losing 3-4 games
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Nice pic Ricky. Did you get it from Annie Hall?
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Rafa will burst through the field
Verdasco, who recently beat Rafa, lost to a 17 year old; albeit the junior RG champion… the next nr. 1? (hope not)
the young guns are always a threat…the players are not familiar with their game and if they have a good day in the office plus their motivation to win they pose danger for any player…
I guess, but beating a guy like Verdasco at only 17 is a sort of feat, I remember Rafa’s beginnings and he was also one raising eyebrows by beating battle-hardened veterans
What. Is. The. Point. Of. Marin Cilic???
Is he even making an effort?
keep in mind he is coached by Goran, who won 1 grand slam and was never the same afterward
What. Was. The. Point. Of. Goran???
In my estimation Rafa really needs to step inside the baseline to make more inroads on his opponents serve. His balls land short and he lacks that aggression! His matches now lack the magic they once had, a tad boring these days!
Have you had a chance to read Rafa’s interview after his match with Novak? He didn’t have the stamina in his legs (yet) to make his groundstrokes powerful enough. It will come.
Chloro, no I didn’t but I still believe Rafa needs to make a few more adjustments to Hus game esp now he is talking about stamina issues. Hope he gets cracking soon and fix those important elements in his game. Look he just get broken for no reason
Look @Monalisae, Rafa just broke back………..for no reason!!
Reblogged this on Tennis Abides.
Very crispy performance from Rafa, he’s coming back!
1st set in the bag
Honestly! Some bloke proposes to his girl during Rafa’s match…………
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nice ace to finish off the 3rd game of the 2nd set , 2- 1
Rafa a set up and 4-1 up in the second. Cruising……….
He is not using his lethal FHDTL yet……….
Almagro is not very patient, Rafa doesn’t have to dig very deep yet
Shame really. I was hoping Nico would make Rafa work.
Rafa serving for the match now, 5-1
Rafa is not yet steady enough in finishing off sets and matches. He should not be struggling to close out this match but he is……..
Rafa’s killer instinct has deserted him.. he needs to find it , all the rest is working fine
11th deuce …
Finish it off please!
Had to wait until the 11th deuce to win the match with an ace 🙂
Vamos Rafa!!
He got the workout in the last game
The last game was an exhibition. Rafa didn’t want to short change the crowd so he extended the match. 🙂
Trust you to put a spin on an otherwise woeful finish @nadline10! That was not good, Rafa needs to re-discover his killer instinct sharpish……..
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Too many UEs from Rafa, needs to focus better. BP conversion needs to improve, and 1st serve % needs to improve.
I think Rafa suffered a let-down, he was expecting a sterner test and it never came until the last game when Rafa had lost concentration.
Well done, Rafa!
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Finally, an ace to finish, I thought this moment would never come!! Shish Rafa u got to sort yourself out, asap!! I really can’t watch when u play like this, bearish not bullish, at all!!!
Who does Rafa play next?
Fognini or Rublev, they have yet to play today.
Rafa does seem to still have trouble closing out matches. He was just missing shots, Almagro wasn’t doing anything special. But then Almagro decided to just go for it since there was nothing to lose at that point. So Rafa found himself in a battle to finally close out the match.
This is one piece of the puzzle that is still missing. It’s been a pattern with Rafa. Fortunately, he was up two breaks at that point but I don’t like to see Rafa staying on the court and having to use up energy when it’s not necessary. Thank goodness he found an ace when he needed it!
Other than that, I thought Rafa played well. This wasn’t an easy first match, but I don’t think Almagro is back to his best either. I am just glad that it was a routine straight sets win, except for the blip in that last game.
At least with Fognini, Rafa knows what to expect. That young kid is an unknown. Can he keep it up and get the win against another experience player?
I expect Rafa will repeat what he said last week: regaining that ability to rarely falter during an entire match is a process, and things are getting better.
Good perspective @chloro. Rafa did not falter DURING the match as he has been doing lately. He faltered at the end. Hopefully this chink will disappear soon.
ritb, my Rafa glass is always half full. 🙂
I think Rafa played a bit defensive for my taste but I assume that was part of the game plan…Almagro is nowhere near his best and it was expected that Rafa would defend and wait for Almagro’s UEs…Rafa was returning very well most of the time and hit some deep and beautiful shots…his backhand is improved and is working better…most of Rafa’s drop shots were pure art…I wish he would go to the net more often, to avoid long rallies but I believe more rallies is what Rafa fancies ATM so that he could get in shape and find the right rhythm with his new racquet…
the last game I see a bit different…I think in the last game Almagro had nothing to lose, he was aware that the match was over so he started playing relaxed and hit with more precision…it took Rafa some time to find his rhythm with this new Almagro but what is important is that RAFA never gave up the fight in that game. Good job!
Vamos Rafa!
Would you believe it, Rublev the Kid is a set and a break up on The Fog……….
Rafa next if he pulls off the win.
Post-match press conference:
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Quotes from Rafa’s post-match press conference in Spanish, English (page 2) and Catalan:
http://www.barcelonaopenbancsabadell.com/sites/default/files/audios/pdf/rafa_nadal.pdf
Kid’s fading, looks like it will be the Fog against Rafa tomorrow…………
Won’t be too much of a fog…
I expect Rafa to put the Fog in his place tomorrow………….
rafaisthebest (April 22, 2015 at 2:18 pm),
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rafaisthebest (April 22, 2015 at 2:18 pm),
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Good luck to them! Although I hope this sort of thing (proposing mid-match) does not become a regular occurrence on the Tour. Clearly affected Rafa’s concentration leading him to drop his service game on resumption of play.
Should have been done before the match started, in my opinion.