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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Who is Arguello?!!!
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TennisTV seems to be down. They had better sort it out before Rafa’s match tonight.
TennisTV.com ¤¤ Apologies – our technical provider is experiencing a few issues at the moment. They are working on a resolution as fast as possible. Sorry ¤¤
Checking the schedule, it appears that the tennis channel is going to be showing Dubai and Acapulco all day. I don’t see anything for Buenos Aires.
I have never tried tennistv. I may have to consider it if I want to watch Rafa’s match.
I also have/use TennisTV because of sporadic tennis coverage in Canada that takes a back door to hockey, baseball, football, basketball at just about any level, MMA, nascar, formula one, curling, bowling, darts, cycling, poker, wrestling, fishing, monster truck and spelling bee.
It’s quite good overall and has much improved features/performance (even though they are having technical problems today).
hawkeye,
Thanks so much for your response. I checked out the site and they offer a few different packages. They do allow 24 hour access for $9.99. I don’t know how much I want to invest, considering that I do have the tennis channel. Sometimes they don’t cover the smaller 250 tournaments until the quarterfinals. That may be what they are doing with Bueno Aires.
ESPN is difficult here in the states. They have tried to accommodate tennis fans in their scheduling but with all of the sports they are televising it gets complicate. That’s why I love the tennis channel. They only cover tennis.
I am a bit concerned about the technical problems. I don’t want to pay and then not get to see the match.
You can always go here for free!
http://www.drakulastream.eu/tennis-live-streaming-video.html
hawkeye,
I think that link was posted on VB. But I decided to try out tennistv for a day. I have it on now and am watching. Rafa just broke this guy in his first service game.
I have tried some live streams in the past and got viruses. I am not saying that this one will do it, but I have become cautious. It appears that the tennis channel is not broadcasting this tournament for now. I don’t know if they will pick it up in the quarterfinals. But right now they have Dubai and Acapulco on their schedule.
If I decide not to stay with tennistv, then I may just use that link!
Thanks for the reminder about it! 🙂
There was rain in Buenos Aires and the first match in the night session (L.Mayer vs J. Monaco) started an hour later than scheduled. It means that Rafa’s match will also start later than scheduled.
Fortunately, I was wrong – the first match started in time!
But, unfortunately, it started to rain again!
The rain has stopped and the players are playing.
Juan Monaco defeated Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 6-4.
Rafa can start his match,
Rafa off to a nice start up a break at 2-0.
I spoke too soon. Rafa was battling back after another of those mental lapses to go down 0-40. At 30-40 he had a wide open shot and hit it into the net to get broken. It’s becoming the norm for him these days.
Rafa got the break back and now has won the first set 6-4. It’s not vintage Rafa, but I’ll take it. I don’t care about the score or games won. Just do this Rafa and get the win, preferably in straight sets!
I don’t think this guy what’s his name is doing anything special. He’s trying to be aggressive and hitting to Rafa’s backhand. That’s not exactly a new strategy. But he missed some key shots in that first set. Rafa didn’t have one of those mental letdowns after he got the break again.
Let’s do this, Rafa!
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Rafa’s serving stats have improved. He’s not sweating buckets here. Also the balls don’t seem to be flying on him like they were in Rio.
Rafa starting the second set well with a break! This guy Arguello has lost it. Now Rafa up 3-0 two breaks! Come on, let’s have a bagel!
Rafa breaks again to go up 5-0. Arguello looks like he’s got nothing now. Nice easy second set for Rafa to get the win now.
I noticed that Rafa seems to be more comfortable on the court here.
Rafa is through to the quarterfinals!
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where are the tournament previews, Ricky?
Didnt do any. Go the picks if you want to know whom i picked!
So many _mpt_ s__ts tonight.
Alex I’d like to buy a vowel please?
“It’s never easy to open when you have lost a match like the one I lost in Rio de Janeiro,” he said. “I started a little nervous, and Arguello played very well in the first set.
“In the second I felt more comfortable and I was able to attack more.”
Vamos, rafa!
Yay! So I was right when I said that Rafa seemed more comfortable in the second set!
I know our Rafa!
He seemed so happy at the end. I think he is liking the conditions a lot more in this tournament. He wasn’t sweating so profusely like he did in Rio so maybe it’s not as humid or hot there. His shots didn’t seem to fly on him the way they did in Rio.
I don’t want to get too far ahead with this. Just one match at a time.
your take on the match was pretty spot on 🙂 you definitely are able to gauge where rafa is game at very accurately !
rafa was just not feeling comfortable in Rio. Cramping aside, he ball’s flight was bothering him. His ROS position against the Fog was unusual…normally he stands THAT far back only against Isner …
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Upset alert against delbonis
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/novak-djokovic-wsj-magazine-article-roger-federer-rafael-nadal
Oh my bold statement