Rafael Nadal will begin his week in Buenos Aires on Wednesday with unheralded qualifier Facundo Arguello on the other side of the net. Juan Monaco, Nadal’s doubles partner, is also in action against Leonardo Mayer.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (Q) Facundo Arguello
Nadal will be looking to rebound from a semifinal loss to Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open when he takes the court for second-round action at the Argentina Open on Wednesday. The fourth-ranked Spaniard’s 2015 campaign is off to a well-documented slow start, with a Doha loss to Michael Berrer and an Australian Open setback against Tomas Berdych to go along with his upset at the hands of Fognini.
This is not necessarily good news for Arguello, because Nadal is undoubtedly motivated to turn things around before Indian Wells, Miami, and ultimately the spring clay-court season. Lose or win, it has been a breakthrough week already for Arguello. The 146th-ranked Argentine had been 0-10 lifetime at the ATP level, but he qualified for the Buenos Aires main draw and picked up his first-ever win by beating Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday. Pablo Cuevas is the highest-ranked man Arguello has ever faced; that is not exactly ideal preparation for a date with Nadal.
Pick: Nadal in losing 5-7 games
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(5) Leonardo Mayer vs. Juan Monaco
It has already been a decent week for Monaco, as well. In addition to first-round doubles win with Nadal, the 30-year-old Argentine took care of another one of his occasional doubles partners, Maximo Gonzalez, 6-2, 6-2 on Monday. Monaco has plunged to 60th in the world, but he started to pick up momentum in Rio de Janeiro by reaching the quarterfinals and pushing eventual champion David Ferrer to three sets.
Up next for Monaco is an all-Argentine showdown against Mayer. Their only previous clash came three years ago at Wimbledon, where Monaco prevailed 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Mayer enjoyed his best-ever season in 2014 and it has him inside the top 30 at No. 29 in the rankings. He struggled in Sao Paulo and Rio, but the 27-year-old opened in Buenos Aires by destroying Stephane Robert 6-0, 6-1 on Tuesday. Based on current form, a slight edge goes to Mayer in what should be a high-quality battle on clay.
Pick: Mayer in 3
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