ATP - Barcelona Tuesday Preview
Nishikori Kei (JPN) vs. Riba Pere (ESP)
The Japanese Kei Nishikori will be on his first match of the season on European clay in almost a year, his usual stop on European clay is the French Open. He will have a difficult task against local player Riba who looks in good form recently but the Spaniard didn’t managed to win a match here, neither in the last two years when he was a qualifier. They have similarities in their game as also Riba is a deep baseliner who won points through his defensive. He has good defensive skills and technical shots. He doesn’t have a strong serve but he pushed well on retrieving and force opponents to play an extra shot, he knows how to keep himself in rallies and goes for his shots when he see an opportunity. Nishikori also has a solid defense and creates good angles, the surface will be on fast side but still Riba is in good form with a quarter-final in Casablanca and second round in Monter Carlo as a qualifier but he withdrew with right knee injury against Cilic and even that was more a precaution retirement still the question remains but overall Riba looks consistently better in long rallies.
Gimeno-Traver Daniel (ESP) vs. Starace Potito (ITA)
Tricky match. The Spaniard Gimeno-Traver has only one win this year, he defeat Santiago Giraldo in Monte Carlo but he looked dangerous on court in previews rounds and he was close to push more Monfils but failed too much behind the serve.
The Spaniard is a defensive counter-punching type of player who stands deep behind the baseline waiting for opponent’s errors, he is a grinder who doesn’t give any cheap points. He is 4/4 in Barcelona and four times was a qualifier managing to beat players like Djokovic, Fognini, Monaco or Ventura. Starace has a better record here but he lost one in first round, last year against Hajek. The Italian looked good recently with a final in Casablanca. Overall the Spaniard has the better serve and can remain solid from the back of the court but he showed that when he is pushed way behind the baseline he doesn’t found a good response, Gimeno-Traver will enter with a lot of morale here wining his first match of the year and being close to beat Monfils, if he had won the opening set he had the upper hand, and we back Gimeno-Traver to take this one.
Malisse Xavier (BEL) vs. Ferrero Juan Carlos (ESP)
Odds dropped a lot on this match. Juan Carlos Ferrero, who should return in Casablanca for caution but also failed to reappear in Monte Carlo because of a groin contracture of the right leg, will make its debut this season at Barcelona. The Spaniard was operated in Barcelona on October 5 last year. It was an operation of the patellar tendon in his left knee and a pinched between the ulna and the carpus of the right wrist that has kept him on the sidelines ever since. Also, his return was under big question but is stated to be on court. Hard to imagine that he will be fully recovered and will give his best on court from the beginning. Malisse isn’t on his best surface but he needs to put a lot of balls back into play and let Ferrero to be the aggressive player, if Malisse will not suffer any let down in his game he shoud take this one in two sets.
Gasquet Richard (FRA) vs. Chela Juan Ignacio (ARG)
The Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela had a good Gold Swing clay campaign which propelled him to the Davis Cup team. He didn’t go in Houston to defend his title and also has points to defend in Bucharest and semi-finals in Umag. He has a good record in Barcelona and over the years only once managed to lose in first round back in 2004 but he will have a difficult task against Gasquet. The Argentine is a tough baseliner with weapons in both defense and attack on the slow surface, last year they met in Buenos Aires and the Frenchman won in hard two sets. Gasquet also showed a good form recently with a new attitude on court and was stopped by Nadal in Monte Carlo, he made a better second set managing to break the Spaniard once. Chela isn’t without chances here, he needs to keep the ball in play and play with long and deep balls on the middle of the court to not open the angles as the Frenchman likes to open the court. The Frenchman played solidly recently but the odds on Chela are too high not to be taken into account.
Kendrick Robert (USA) vs. Greul Simon (GER)
Last time when Robert Kendrick played on European clay was back in 2009 in French Open and has only one win over Huta Galung in the same year. He had some success on American clay which is faster then European clay. Greul managed to qualify here with two tough wins over Meffert and Hajek but his serve worked well in both matches to advance further. The American will try to serve big and advance to the net for volleys as from the back of the court in long rallies the German has the upper hand, but is hard to see Kendrick to serve his way through this match.
Almagro Nicolas (ESP) vs. Andujar Pablo (ESP)
The new Casablanca’s winner, Pablo Andujar had a routine win over Gerard Granollers-Pujol, it was more to accommodate with the surface and conditions as Andujar cruised through the match in just 57 minutes. He is in great form recently and plays with a lot of confidence, he plays an aggressive tennis of all or nothing on court which paid off until now. He will have a real test against Almagro, but Almagro slowed down recently but he is on place where he likes to play reaching at least third round in the last three years. Almagro played good in Monte Carlo but he was nervous on court against Melzer making a lot of errors on court when his game didn’t enter. Both player have a powerful server and both likes to hit hard from the back of the court with Andujar being more aggressive and advancing to the net for volleys while Almagro likes more to open the court. Almagro was in good form in Latin Swing.
Lopez Feliciano (ESP) vs. Kukushkin Mikhail (KAZ)
Even that isn’t considered a clay court specialist, the Spaniard Feliciano Lopez has a good record in Barcelona due to the fast side of the courts. He has reached the third round in the last three years losing to top players like Nadal, Davydenko or Soderling. He looked good in Monte Carlo even that he won only two games against Ferrer. Also, because of the speed Kukushkin is 3/3 in the main draw here and 5/1 in qualifications. But he looked poor recently on court making a lot of errors. He stay solid in rallies until he blast a winner as forehand is his main weapon, he has a good backhand but is more defensive one as he uses him only in rallies, a solid serve and good retrieving skills. The Spaniard has the edge on serve and can resist in some rallies here but if the points will last longer then Kukushkin will have the upper hand. The odds on Lopez are too low and if the Kazakh player was in slight better form then the odds were great.
Nieminen Jarkko (FIN) vs. Berlocq Carlos (ARG)
The Finn was force to play qualifications here and after a routine win over Lizariturry he was forced to work hard against Marc Lopez coming from a set behind. Nieminen said: “I really like this club, it's one of my favorite tennis clubs like the city is one of my favorite cities as well.” but his record is poor as he is yet to win a match in the last three years. He also meets a tough player in Berlocq who is in good form recently pushing Berdych all the way in Miami and also lost closely to Blake in Houston. The Argentine is a tough baseliner, he likes to play with powerful players, he likes to counter puncher well and to use opponent’s pace. Both are more defensively but the Argentine showed some aggressive tennis on court recently, the main down is still his serve an aspect which the Finn can exploit and wining against a tough player like Marc he will give some confidence.
Haase Robin (NED) vs. Monfils Gael (FRA)
The Dutchman started a little bit slowly against Cipolla being quickly a break down but then he managed to bounce back and never looked back controlling the match. His serve not always enter but he was solid on the ground playing some aggressive tennis which paid off. Monfils returned to action in Monte Carlo and showed only glimpse of the old form being pushed hard by Gimeno-Traver and if the Spaniard had won the opening set there then anything could happen. He also looked tired on court in the second round against Gil. The Dutchman needs to serve big and keep his serve, he needs to force some long rallies tired down the Frenchman and he will have the upper hand, the odds should be tighter here and we back Haase to advance further.
Stepanek Radek (CZE) vs. Raonic Milos (CAN)
Interesting meeting. They met this year on a fast track in Memphis where the Canadian won in three sets with the Czech looked a little bit out of sort as he couldn’t read the powerful serve of Raonic. But Stepanek had his chance and looked at the match he will have another shot here as the match will be played in the night session and still the conditions aren’t that fast like last year which should negate Raonic’s serve. Another key here is that Stepanek creates good angles in his shots and can exploit the poor sideways movement of the Canadian and also the bounce is lower in Barcelona which should force Raonic to bend his knee to hit the ball. Both players looked good on clay recently but we give credits to Stepanek.
Davydenko Nikolay (RUS) vs. Dolgopolov Alexandr (UKR)
The match of the day between fast raising Alexandr Dolgopolov and Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Davydenko’s best tennis is arguably behind him. Nevertheless he will be aiming to stop the rot against Dolgopolov. The match is played in the night session when conditions will be slower favoring the solid baseline display of the Russian while Dolgopolov will rely on his flashy game, he will win more cheap points behind the serve but the slowness of the surface will negate his powerful serve. The Ukrainian has a chance to create good angles, he needs to put the Russian on the wrong foot, to surprise him, in a good day Davydenko can easily read Dolgopolov’s game but the Russian didn’t’ showed a solid form since the beginning of the year but has the game to explode and even that Dolgopolov has the upper hand here we will go for consistency and we back Davydenko to take this one.
Frenchman Vincent Millot is still in searching of his first win in ATP level main draw even that he managed to qualify for some tournaments. He had tough qualifying rounds beating two tough players in Kubot and Zverev but he remained solid on court and behind a solid defense he managed to qualify for the second week in a row after Monte Carlo. He will meet now Dodig, they met in the past and the head-to-head is tied at 1-1 with the Croat wining the match after the Frenchman withdrew. Dodig has only one match on clay recently, he lost easily to Robredo in Monte Carlo and even that he has some success in the past on the surface his game isn’t suited too much to clay. The Croat is a powerful serve and he likes to charge the net to finish the points quickly while Millot is more a grinder who will force him to play an extra shot, he played more on clay recently and if he will manage to negate the Croat serve he will have the upper hand. Dodig has a poor record against left hander, he is 1/1 in ATP and 3/6 in Challenger level or even 0/4 in Futures, he also lost to grinders like Machado, Lorenzi, Berlocq, Ventura or Gil on clay.
Validates to