ATP - Barcelona Wednesday Preview

Nishikori Kei (JPN) vs. Machado Rui (POR)
Seventh-ranked Tomas Berdych pulled out earlier yesterday with a stomach virus. He was replaced by lucky loser Rui Machado who lost in the last round of qualifications to Edouard Roger Vasselin. Kei Nishikori advanced to the second round, having been leading 6-2 when his Spanish opponent, Pere Riba, was forced to retire due to injury. Nishikori looked good on court in the first set and he should keep the same strategy on court as he will face another grinder and despite the surface being a little bit faster a lot of rallies are expected. The Japanese played consistently recently, he is a tough baseliner who likes to dictate the play and who creates good angles in his shots, Machado is a good counter puncher but his form drops recently.

Ramos Albert (ESP) vs. Giraldo Santiago (COL)
Albert Ramos-Vinolas had to play a challenging match to get past the first round. In his match against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, he lost the first set but rallied back to win the second in a tiebreak and bounced back in the third to win in more then three hours.

Giraldo advance in two sets but was a close affair against Bellucci saving two set points in the opening set. "It was a tough game, we've been friends a long time, we played many times and it shows in the track. I am very happy with my level and proceed in the tournament." – said Giraldo. He served well and won a lot of points behind the serve, something that he will do against Ramos too, the Spaniard was off during his first round here.

Ferrero Juan Carlos (ESP) vs. Zverev Mischa (GER)
Juan Carlos Ferrero marked his comeback from injury with a morale-boosting triumph over Xavier Malisse to reach the second round of the Barcelona Open. He still showed that is far of his old form but was enough to beat Malisse. “I had some discomfort at first, but after I warmed up I felt better. It did hurt everywhere at the end and it was hard to close out the win. But I’m happy, everything went well.” – said Ferrero about his first match. Ferrero, who won the title in 2001, goes on to play Mischa Zverez, who replaced the injured Andy Murray in the main draw. The German lost in qualifications to Millot, he looked good for a set and a half but his form started to go down and when he was served for the match he was broke and Millot never looked back. Tricky match as Ferrero didn’t looked too solid on court while Zverev plays poorly for a while, the one who will make fewer errors on court will have the upper hand but with two players who still tries to found some rhythm is more like a guessing.

Monaco Juan (ARG) vs. Vagnozzi Simone (ITA)
After a shaky start, the Argentine Juan Monaco bounced back a break in the opening round to win in straight sets against Dimitrov. After he managed to level the score in the first set, the Argentine founded his rhythm on shots from the back of the court and let only one game until the end. Simone Vagnozzi managed to make it into the second round of the 2011 Barcelona Open tournament despite the fact that his compatriot Fabio Fognini defeated him in the first set of their first round match. He was forced to retire because of hip discomfort. Monaco founded his rhythm in his debut match in Barcelona and his serve started to found his target while he looked solid from the back of the court. The Argentine has the power in his side but also looks tougher from the back of the court.

Paire Benoit (FRA) vs. Montanes Albert (ESP)
Albert Montanes got his Barcelona Open campaign underway yesterday with a comfortable win over Teymuraz Gabashvili. But wasn’t an easy match as the scoreline shows, the Spaniard dropped only four games, as he struggle a little bit in the beginning of the first set and was forced to save nine break points from 10 losing his serve once. Montanes with now face qualifier Benoit Paire in the next round as he saw off wildcard Pablo Carreno-Busta. Paire comes from a tough qualification campaign and had a tough match in first round and benefit by a demoralize player in decider as neither Paire impressed. Montanes even that he wasn’t at his best he should take this one in two sets, he has the serve on his side to win more free points, he hits with depth and creates good angles in his shots to force Paire to hit from running.

Berlocq Carlos (ARG) vs. Ferrer David (ESP)
The Argentine Carlos Berlocq said today that he feels he is playing “at high level”, after beating Finland's Jarko Nieminen in his debut in Barcelona. "I'm fine, I'm playing at a high level. Today I beat a very tough opponent, who was among the favorites to win this tournament, so I think it was a great victory." – said Berlocq. A boost win but the Argentine showed a high level of tennis despite that he lost the second set, he won a lot of points behind the serve but also was forced to save eleven break points from 15, but his ground game impressed more. Ferrer is coming after a good match agianst Nadal in Monte Carlo, he lost twice the final in Barcelona against Nadal and has a semi-final to defend. We don’t see an easy match for Ferrer, Berlocq despite that he faced too many break points will be a hard nut to crack as he will enter with a lot of morale and showed against Berdych in his least favorite surface that when he is confident his game ups, “ …if I play like today's game against Ferrer could be a great game.”

Anderson Kevin (RSA) vs. Hanescu Victor (ROU)
South African Kevin Anderson surprised Pablo Cuevas in first round in Barcelona. Anderson served his way through the second round as his serve was the main weapon and proved stronger in key moments of the match despite not being a clay court specialist. He won 75% points on first serve behind 75% percentage of first serve in. He will meet Romanian Victor Hanescu who also had catch a serving day and won against Golubev, despite that the Kazakhstan player wasn’t at his best. Both players are big servers with Hanescu being more used to play on clay, he has good retrieving skills and he should play with deep balls to push Anderson way behind the baseline, something that Cuevas did only partial, forcing him to play more defensive. With both players looking solid on serve in first round the match will be dictate by a point here and there but we stick with the player who has more experience on the surface.

Garcia-Lopez Guillermo (ESP) vs. Lopez Feliciano (ESP)
Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez advanced with a straight sets win over Denis Istomin but failed to impress. The first set was a tough affair which could go either way, Garcia-Lopez second serve was poor while he rose above the opportunity as the second set was far less tight, Denis Istomin seemed to have exhausted himself. He will meet his compatriot Feliciano Lopez who advanced after a highly competitive match against Kukushkin, the Spaniard was solid on serve with 16 aces and only 2 double faults while he won 84% points behind the serve. H2h is 3-2 for Garcia-Lopez but Feliciano beat him in Barcelona back in 2007. Overall is a tournament where Feliciano Lopez feels comfortable behind his serve while Garcia-Lopez didn’t impress too much in the first set failing to be pushed too much and we back Feliciano Lopez to take this one.

Nadal Rafael (ESP) vs. Gimeno-Traver Daniel (ESP)
Rafael Nadal will kick off his bid for a sixth Barcelona title against his compatriot Gimeno-Traver who advance in the second round after the Italian Potito Starace was forced to retired due to injury. Gimeno-Traver is unlikely to cause any problems for Nadal despite his progress in the last matches, he is a player that easily can go down when his game doesn’t enter, he will be under pressure when he will meet Nadal for the first one and we are looking for Nadal to take this one in easy two sets.

Gasquet Richard (FRA) vs. Kavcic Blaz (SLO)
Richard Gasquet was forced to battle from a set down against Juan Ignacio Chela before clinching his place in the next round. The ninth-seeded Frenchman looked to be heading for an early exit after a sluggish opening set but he eventually found a way past his equally erratic opponent, Chela. He will meet now Kavcic who advanced after a solid display against Kamke. This will be the key of the match, Gasquet failed to impress in the first round and if Kavcic will keep a high level of tennis, he will play aggressive he will have the upper hand. The Slovenian has a powerful serve and on this fast track can win free points which will relax his game and will push the Frenchman on his own serve, Gasquet was off on second serve. Not an easy match but Kavcic isn’t without chances here.

Roger-Vasselin Edouard (FRA) vs. Davydenko Nikolay (RUS)
Russian Nikolay Davydenko ended a three loses strike with a solid win over Dolgopolov in first round in Barcelona. It was a much better match made by the Russian who also looked solid in mental aspect as he won a difficult tie-break and the second set was tougher. He will meet qualifier Roger-Vasselin who beat Kuznetsov in straight sets. The Frenchman is a good baseliner with good shots from both wings, he advance to the net from time to time to finish the points quickly but he will be under pressure as Davydenko has a solid baseline display with a good depth in his shots and angles to move the Frenchman from side to side and force him to play defensively, the Russian was good against Dolgopolov.

Melzer Jurgen (AUT) vs. Granollers Marcel (ESP)
Tricky match. The Austrian was in good form in Monte Carlo managing to beat Federer under a solid performance but also he carries some injuries and his level of fitness is still questionable, after he was 3-1 in first set against Ferrer his level dropped and he won only two more game until the end of the match. He is also 2/3 with last year managing to win his first wins in Barcelona. He will meet Granollers for the first time, the Spaniard advanced after almost three hours of battle against Brands. Granollers, like Melzer, can play some aggressive tennis surprising his opponent and if the Austrian will not be at his best he will have a tough encounter. The Spaniard has a good record against left hander, he is 11/1 in ATP level and 12/8 in Challenger level, he is playing at home and he will have a sting on serve here.

Greul Simon (GER) vs. Raonic Milos (CAN)
Even on clay Milos Raonic’s powerful serve is still a weapon. He won 89 per cent of his first serve points and never had his serve broken by Stepanek. “I was feeling comfortable out there, I’m happy with how I played and how it all went. There’s not too many things to complain about. Stepanek is a tricky guy to play and he does a lot of different things but I was happy with how I dealt with everything. I am very happy with my development and progress on clay so far.” – said Raonic. He will meet for the second time Greul, the German beat him in Johannesburg after the Canadian had his great runs and was a little bit tired. Also Greul was solid on serve against Kendrick, won 81% points behind first serve, but he lost his serve in the opening of the second set. Both players have a powerful serve with Raonic having the upper hand and also the Canadian hits with more power and will push Greul way behind the baseline, Raonic isn’t without chances in long rallies and we back him to take this one in two sets.

Soderling Robin (SWE) vs. Dodig Ivan (CRO)
After suffering a minor knee injury, Robin Soderling makes his eagerly awaited return to the court at the ATP Barcelona Open. He is from a couple of days in Barcelona training, he had some training sessions with Bellucci. He lost the final last year to another left handed player, Verdasco. He will meet Dodig who won easily against Millot, the Frenchman showed once more that has a fragile mental putting in a poor display on court. Soderling usually starts very aggressive the matches and we expect to see that here too, he has the serve on his side to win free points while he can exploit Dodig’s serve which can be attackable especially the second one, the Swede looks favorite to take this one easily in two sets.