Rafael Nadal will kick off his Rio de Janeiro campaign when he takes the court on Tuesday against Thomaz Bellucci. Meanwhile, Sao Paulo champion Pablo Cuevas is making a quick turnaround to face Nicolas Almagro.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. Thomaz Bellucci
Something will have to give when Nadal contests his first-round match at the Rio Open against Bellucci on Tuesday. The third-ranked Spaniard is 0-3 against his last three left-handed opponents, but he is 3-0 lifetime at Bellucci’s expense. They have faced each other twice at the French Open (2008 and 2010) and once at Wimbledon (2012). Never has Bellucci taken a set from his heavily-favored opponent and the Brazilian has forced a tiebreaker on just once occasion.
Nadal’s three recent losses to lefties, of course, all came on hard courts (to Martin Klizan, Feliciano Lopez, and Michael Berrer). Now he is on his clay-court stomping grounds at a tournament he won last season. Nadal is looking to bounce back from an Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Tomas Berdych, while Bellucci was bounced out from an event in his home country last week (by Klizan in the Sao Paulo first round). The 63rd-ranked Brazilian reached the Rio quarterfinals in 2014 before succumbing to David Ferrer. This could be competitive for a while as Nadal gets back into a groove, but for the most part it should straightforward.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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Nicolas Almagro vs. (6) Pablo Cuevas
Cuevas will be back in action just two days after capturing the Sao Paulo title. The 23-ranked Uruguayan lifted a winner’s trophy for the third time in his career on Sunday after outlasting Italian qualifier Luca Vanni 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4). Cuevas’ week also included wins over Almagro, Jiri Vesely, Facundo Bagnis, and Santiago Giraldo.
This will already be the third meeting in 2015 between the two 29-year-olds. Cuevas leads the head-to-head series over Almagro 3-0, with victories in Sao Paulo (7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2), Sydney (7-6(5), 6-4) and six seasons ago on the clay courts of Hamburg (6-2, 6-4). Coming back from a 2014 foot injury, Almagro registers at 91st in the rankings. The former world No. 9, however, showed encouraging signs by advancing two rounds last week. He should be able to take advantage of a fatigued opponent and seize some revenge on Cuevas.
Pick: Almagro in 2
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my live stream freezes all the time so I can hardly see any of this match…maybe it’s for better…what type of match is this, anyway?? what is Rafa doing out there? it looks like it’s awfully hot out there, but still…Gosh…
Bad badder baddest
Ricky,
That about sums it up! Just dreadful stuff in that first set. It was a breakathon with neither guy being able to hold his serve.
You’re better off nats.
Hope Nole’s stream is freezing too.
If Novak watched Rafa’s match against Thomaz he will have switched off during the 2nd set and told himself the match lasted only one set.
http://twitter.com/jjvallejoa/status/567835189012877313
Rafa is doing nothing on his way to victory.
Ricky was right.
Maybe Rafa has another appendix?
Syd I’d just awful.
Rafa playing better now.
Still he should lose the pink.
agree… 🙂
He’ll keep the pink until IW.
Aside: word press and iOS don’t play nice.
Having internet problems so I’m on 3G which is up and down. Our boy is doing well?
Rafa is playing better in the second set, but honestly he had nowhere to go but up. Bellucci has really been just awful. His serving is horrendous and the game is just not there. Rafa got lucky bumping up against someone who couldn’t get out of his own head long enough to play some decent tennis. Otherwise, things might have been a lot worse!
wow…that was beautiful… some of the good old Rafa…
Great CCFH for 5-1.
Caro would have beaten Syd.
Congrats Rafa?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-FmeHqCMAAH1S6.png
Vamos Rafa!
http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hand-gestures/hand-clap-smiley-emoticon.gif
thanks Rafa for playing some decent tennis in the second…I have an important meeting early tomorrow and good that I can go to sleep now…the way it started I thought I would spend most of the night up watching something that was supposed to be tennis…
Vamos Rafa!
Rafa is not playing until Thursday.
Rafa’s next opponent is Pablo Carreno Busta. He practiced with Rafa in Mallorca in December.
Rafa definitely played better in that second set. Bellucci pretty much gave up at that point. But at least Rafa looked much more like himself.
Rafa has a lot more work to do, but a win is a win!
Expected stiffer resistance from Thomaz. Hope Pablo can give Rafa a proper work-out……