ATP - Barcelona Thursday Preview

Hanescu Victor (ROM) vs. Ferrer David (ESP)
Fourth-seeded David Ferrer made quick work of Carlos Berlocq wining comfortable in two sets and will meet Victor Hanescu, after the Romanian beat Kevin Anderson. Was a solid match for Ferrer on the ground but also Berlocq made some errors in key moments which made the difference. "I think I began a little more nervous than usual, but that is logical since it is the first match. Fortunately I was able to handle it and I hope to do better tomorrow." – said Ferrer about his first match here. The Romanian looked impressive on serve against Anderson losing only four points without facing a break point and also created a lot of break points. Ferrer returned well but the Argentine served a lot with the second serve, he will try to force Hanescu to play an extra shot but the Romanian is reliable when he plays against top players as he puts a lot of fights on court and he will win some free points behind the serve.

Gasquet Richard (FRA) vs. Monfils Gael (FRA)
Gael Monfils advanced after a tight win over Robin Haase. Despite the scoreline, Monfils won with only one point more then Haase and most of the points were made in decider.

The Dutchman was a little bit demoralized after he lost the second set in tie-break and started to make a lot of errors and handed the match to Monfils. Also after a tight match advanced his compatriot Richard Gasquet who advanced with a win over Kavcic. It looked that Gasquet will head to an easy win with a set and a break up in the second but Kavcic didn’t give up and pushed him in decider where Gasquet was the better player. It will be the first meeting between them on clay and overall the head-to-head is tied at 3-3 but Gasquet is in slide better form while Monfils still has a lot of downs in his game. 

Nadal Rafael (ESP) vs. Giraldo Santiago (COL)
Rafael Nadal opened his bid for a sixth Barcelona Open title with an easy win over Daniel Gimeno-Traver. He started very aggressive and didn’t want to stay too much on court pushing his opponent with his ground strokes. He will meet Giraldo for a place in quarter-finals. "Giraldo is very aggressive and one of the most dangerous players on the circuit. The match against him last year was hard. Tomorrow I have to play solid and be as aggressive as I can." – said Nadal about his opponent. It will be the first meeting between them on clay, Nadal once more will want not to stay too much on court and the first games of the match are very important as usually the Spaniard makes here the break. The Columbian played well against a tricky player and overall he should keep his game play as he will face another left handed, the Columbian has the game to resist here.

Melzer Jurgen (AUT) vs. Montanes Albert (ESP)
After two hours the Spaniard Albert Montanes advanced in Barcelona Open with a win over Paire. Even that he lost a set, the Spaniard made a good match on court being pleased with his game. "I played two matches and are going pretty well. For the moment enjoy the win and tomorrow I'll think of the rival" – said Montanes. He will have a tough encounter agaisnt Melzer, the Austrian leads the head-to-head with 5-2, 4-2 on clay with the last meeting last year in Stuttgart won by the Spaniard. The Spaniard has the usual clay court game with strong baseline display, strong serve, good forehand and put good drop shots to break opponent rhythm, but has a poor record against left hander, he is 16/22 in ATP and 11/18 in Challenger circuit. The Austrian won the match against Granollers even being injured, he received medical attention at 2-1 when he suffered a mild tachycardia but he continued well and easily won, he is an attacking force from the baseline and the fast conditions here suits well to his style and it seems that those injuries boost his game, same thing happened against Federer in Monte Carlo but Montanes is a tough player and the Austrian needs to be at his best and these injuries not let us to back the Austrian confident as he might suffer letdowns in a tough match.

Almagro Nicolas (ESP) vs. Davydenko Nikolay (RUS)
Nicolas Almagro is just one win away from cracking the world's top 10 after his second-round victory at the Barcelona Open. He was in the same situation in the Latin American “Golden Swing” but failed in the final against Ferrer. Also he didn’t impress too much on court being behind the serve, landed only 38% of first serve in the second set and overall landed 46% during the match but he won 72% points behind that. "When you're on the court you try not to think about that. I still think I can play much better." – said Almagro. He has a tough mission as he will meet Davydenko who showed a good form in Barcelona. Also he puts a lot of fight on court, he bounced back in the second set and won a tough tie-break against Roger-Vasselin. The Russian looks solid on the ground with his defense looking stronger on every match and he will punish Almagro if he will not land a higher percentage of the first serve in, Davydenko is on the raise recently while Almagro slowed down recently.

Vagnozzi Simone (ITA) vs. Ferrero Juan Carlos (ESP)
Juan Carlos Ferrero downed German lucky loser Mischa Zverev, who took the place of the injured Andy Murray. "I was a little worse physically due to being tired from yesterday, but I held up well." – said Ferrero. He was forced once more to work hard to advance further but the German was in poor form heading to match and he made a lot of errors on court. He will meet now Vagnozzi who won his first match in 10 years against a Top 100 player and also is for the first time in the third round of an ATP tournament. The Italian surprised Monaco, the Argentine also made a lot of errors on court and if the Italian surprised with his serve, which isn’t the strongest weapon in his game, then Monaco was off on serve especially on second as he won only 4 points. Still, the win remains as Vagnozzi also knew to push him from the back of the court and it might be prove a hard task against a tired Ferrero. He knows that he needs to keep the ball in play and force long rallies and not let the Spaniard to dictate from the back of the court, the Italian knows how to keep himself in long rallies and once more if hi serve will enter he will a boost in his game, the Spaniard needs points here but errors cracks into his game.

Dodig Ivan (CRO) vs. Raonic Milos (CAN)
Third seed Robin Soderling struggled on his return from a knee injury going out of the Barcelona Open in straight sets to Ivan Dodig. The Croatian took full advantage of luck of rhythm of last year finalist, serving better then the Swede and keeping the points shorts while Soderling made a lot of errors on court. He will meet Raonic who advanced after a tough round against Greul, Raonic once proved that is a hard nut to crack when his serve is working. The Canadian fired 10 aces and won 83% points behind first serve and saved 7 break points from nine. Not an easy match as will be dictate by serve, Dodig took advantage by a poor display of the Swede but was good on retrieving while Raonic will count on serve to win cheap points. The Croatian showed a good form and this year played a much aggressive tennis, due to his new confidence on court and we are looking more on consistency.

Lopez Feliciano (ESP) vs. Nishikori Kei (JPN)
Two hours needed Feliciano Lopez to advance further in Barcelona Open after a tough match against Garcia-Lopez. He lost the opening set in tie-break but he regrouped and lost his serve just once from the same occasion in the remaining two sets looking comfortable on serve, especially on the second set. The match will be played in the night session when things are slower and also Lopez stopped four times in this stage as he never advanced further. He also meets an incommode player who despite not being on his favorite surface he still has the game to be tricky, Nishikori beat Machado without losing his serve and being solid behind own serve. Tricky match between two different styles, Lopez will count on serve and play aggressive with a lot of net rushing but the key of the match will be how will resist in long rallies as the Japanese will force him to play long rallies, will put the balls back in forcing Lopez to play an extra shot. Lopez never advanced before this stage in four occasions but he lost to top players like Nadal, Soderling, Davydenko or Calleri while still Nishikori isn’t on his favorite surface.