Rafael Nadal will begin his bid for a fourth consecutive clay-court title when he opens in Rome against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro on Wednesday. Juan Martin Del Potro and Kyle Edmund are also in second-round action.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. (Q) Nicolas Almagro
Nadal and Almagro will be squaring off for the 16th time in their careers when they meet again in round two of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 14-1 in favor of Nadal, who is 10-1 at his compatriot’s expense on clay. Almagro’s lone victory came via a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 decision three years ago at Barcelona, but the much more heralded Spaniard has since reeled off four wins in a row.
Speaking of strings of successive wins, Nadal is a perfect 15-0 on clay this season and has lifted three straight trophies in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Madrid. The world No. 4 improved to 34-5 overall in 2017 when he defeated Dominic Thiem 7-6(8), 6-4 in last Sunday’s Madrid final. Almagro is no stranger to tough second-round draws at Masters 1000 tournaments; he lost to David Goffin at this stage in Monte-Carlo and to Novak Djokovic in the last 32 in Madrid (7-5 in the third set after leading 3-0). The world No. 73 evened his record at 8-8 this year by knocking out Italy’s own Andreas Seppi 7-6(6), 6-3 on Monday. Almagro is in fine form and Nadal struggled in his opening matches in both Monte-Carlo and Madrid, so this should be competitive–but it also won’t result in an upset.
Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 8-10 games
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Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Kyle Edmund
Del Potro currently registers at 34th in the rankings, but a win over Grigor Dimitrov on Monday and at least one top 32 player (Roger Federer) withdrawing from the French Open means the Argentine is already in good shape for a seed at the season’s second Grand Slam. That is quite an accomplishment because Del Potro has played sparingly to preserve the health of his left wrist, but he has played well in his limited appearances. The 2009 U.S. Open champion is 8-4 this year (2-0 on clay) with a semifinal showing in Delray Beach and third-round finishes in Indian Wells and Miami.
Up next for Del Potro is a first-ever meeting with Edmund, who advanced on Monday by beating Joao Sousa 6-3, 6-4. The 53rd-ranked Brit took a set off Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Masters (no other opponent managed that feat), but he also got blown out by Thiem in Barcelona and suffered an awful loss in Estoril to Portuguese wild card Joao Domingues. Edmund’s lack of consistency is such that he will not have the upper hand in this battle of big forehands.
Pick: Del Potro in 2
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Sorry that Almagro is injured yet again. Rafa would have won that match anyway. Hope Nico recovers quickly because he’s not ready to retire yet. Injury is always just round the corner for all of them.
BTW the world no 1 and defending champion, lost yesterday and there is not a single article on tennis.com. A Rafa loss at a 250 will be plastered all over and Bodo would do an article prophesing a demise
vmk1, just shows who makes the headlines, definitely not the current #1. I am convinced that all the commies have a spreadsheet of all Rafa’s ups and downs the way they spill out facts about who has taken a set off him, who beat him 7 years ago where and when, who broke his serve, who saved match point against him, even going back to 2005. It’s amazing.
I sent Mark Petchey a tweet the other day saying there should be a forfeit box and commies should put £10 in it every time they mention any of the above.
Was Almagro alright at the start of the match and did he injur himself during those three short games? Or did he appear to be hurt already when they started playing?
Almagro was perfectly OK until the injury happened.
Almagro’s knee:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAB41OgXoAAUwDQ.jpg
Hope Almagro recovers in time for the FO; he’s starting to play some good tennis, I wish him well.
I also hope Rafa is ready for the next test ie either Sock or Vesley.
Honestly, I was hoping Rafa gets a walkover or somrthing at some stage in Rome to get some rest. So glad in that sense!
What happened to Nico though? Wish him a speedy recovery.
Yes, what happened, and when did it happen? Looking at Almagro’s face it seems to hurt a lot 🙁
Almagro hurts his knee when he jump with his left leg to strike a FH…and he felt something immediately after that…maybe a bad movement before he strike that FH because he landed on his right leg after he made that shot….
You can actually see already on youtube a good part of the actual exchanges and the moment when Almagro gets hurt. It doesn’t look spectacular at all, but he seems to be almost immediately immobilized.
Shows how disaster can strike out of nowhere… that’s why one can never pencil in the winner of a tournament in advance, even if a certain player is the overwhelming favorite…
Agree littlefoot!
yep
Rafa’s concern for his friend was so precious…
https://www.sportskeeda.com/tennis/early-almagro-retirement-sends-nadal-through-in-rome
I just heard about what happened in Rafa’s match. That’s why I didn’t see him playing!
Sorry to hear about Almagro’s injury. I am not surprised that Rafa tried to help him.
I hope that Almagro recovers soon.
So Rafa essentially got a walkover, for all intents and purposes. Not what he would have wanted.
But maybe he could take a positive from it in that he now gets more rest? He obviously never wants to see a friend get injured, though.
Rafa does not want to see anyone get injured ever! High empathy quotient. Just the way he’s wired.
Feel really bad for Nico. Not one of my faves but to get hurt just when he’s starting to play well again after a couple of years of struggling? Ouch indeed! Hope it’s not too serious and that he’ll recover in time for RG.
Kevin,
Oh I do agre with you that Rafa has to play one less match. For those of us who were a bit worried about him playing in Rome, one less match is good.
I just know that Rafa would prefer to play. No one ever wants to advance due to another player getting injured. Rafa knows all too well what that feels like.
I hope that it’s not serious. From the videos Almagro looked to be in a great deal of pain.
I am watching Sock/Vesely now. Rafa’s. Ext opponent will come out of this match. These two are locked in a tight battle in the third set.
I agree with you, NNY, that Rafa always prefers to play as long he can move on two feet and swing a racquet! 🙂
This game is going on forever. Sock can’t hold and Vesely can’t break.
Kevin,
Well said!
?
Sock finally holds. Big missed opportunity for Vesely. Now the pressure is on him to hold to force a tb,
Del Potro could be dangerous at RG. He seems to be rounding into form.
Rafa stayed on the centre court to practice after Almagro withdrew:
https://youtu.be/Sjqy5u4eIaI
🙂
My post AT 4:14 PM wasn’t meant as a Reply. 🙂
Mary (AT 4:03 PM),
Luckily, Delpo will be seeded at RG. 🙂
I Very much doubt Delpo has the stamina in BO5 against the very elite players ….
Sounds like nico blew out his acl. Nasty if it is.
You could be right. Symptoms of that injury match up with what we saw onscreen: the sudden pain after the foot made contact with the court, the hobbling and the immediate retirement. If you’re right it’s very nasty indeed and Almagro won’t play anytime soon 🙁
While the avoidance of a potentially gruelling match is of course good for Rafa’s RG campaign I can’t help thinking that this could’ve happened to him, too…as last year’s RG was over for him after only two rounds, although he was in good shape.
So many things have to fall into place for winning a slam, and some things can’t be controlled by the players.
littlefoot (AT 5:56 PM),
Rafa injured his left wrist BEFORE RG last year.
No Rafa wasn’t in good shape at last year’s RG He had the wrist problem. I think he had it from Madrid but was cleared to play Rome. He withdrew from RG when his doctor told him that if he played five more best of fives with that wrist, it could break. But yes, Rafa probably had ACL when he got injured in 2012 resulting in him having to sit out the rest of the season.
Last year he came back from injury too soon to play in the Olympics. If he had waited for his wrist to heal completely, his return this year might have been like in 2013. He would have swept AO, IW, Miami and there wouldn’t have been all the nonsense from Fedfawns thinking Fed’s new backhand can now defeat Rafa on clay!!!
Mary says AT 6:21 PM: “Rafa probably had ACL when he got injured in 2012 resulting in him having to sit out the rest of the season.”
.
Rafa was diagnosed with Hoffa’s disease in his left knee in the middle of the 2012 and because of that he was off the Tour for 7 months (until Feb. 2013). He got his pain under control, but he
still had some pain during the whole year 2013. He underwent stem cell treatment on his left knee at the end of 2013 and it helped him.
https://www.facebook.com/Nadal/posts/10151090787906026