Barcelona / Casablanca
The week of Barcelona and Casachallenger, well I will be previewing both tournaments and for once the field in Casablanca isn’t as bad as usual, but it will still always be Casachallenger in my heart.
Nadal, will be back here playing again trying to make it a hat trick of titles, but the real story of this week is the return of the forgotten Spaniard and warrior Felix Mantilla to the main tour after having a battle with shoulder problems and skin cancer. I am so happy to see him back and I imagine the Catalans will give him the ovation he deserves. In fact I will do a separate entry on Mantilla tomorrow, because he deserves that.
The question is whether Nadal will be stopped here, it wasn’t like he had to sweat too much in winning in Monte Carlo. The fact is that he is beatable and he has to lose at some point, the question is when this day will be.
Gaudio has an interesting match with the Toad Söderling. In normal times this would be a beatdown, but these aren’t normal times for Gaudio on clay and the fact that the Toad is inconsistent on this surface and rarely has 2 good events in a row, this could help Gaudio along with the fact this is where he won his 1st title and made a final as well. It always helps returning back to places where you have had some good memories, just hope to see more of the 2nd set performance against Djokovic, than the other matches. If he is patient, then the Toad can self-destruct.
Safin and Nalbandian are both in the same section as Nadal, but the chances that either of them will go through and play Nadal are about as predictable as a baby arse. Safin, he seems to be a bit slower these days and is a big match player, but he needs to win the early matches to play the big ones. Wow! that was profound wasn’t it. Nalbandian well he has a rally to go to after this event, a few wins would be good for him, but he is more likely to be having a few empanadas instead.
Calleri and Cañas return to the tour as well, after a break with leg injuries and also tiredness in Cañas’s case. Calleri has so much potential to do well on the clay, but he just keeps getting injured and he tried to come back too soon after Acapulco. He got a good 1st rounder against the very likeable Marc Lopez, too bad Marc had to get Gordo, though one can’t be sure how fit Calleri is at the moment.
Cañas has an interesting match with big Max, they have only played on fast surfaces on the tour, though Willy schooled him in Bermuda on the green clay. I think he should be able to handle Max here, but with big Max on clay he has beaten some very good players, then he lost to Gineprick on clay.
The King Oscar Hernandez and Mucho Almagro, well along with Mantilla will provide the entertainment as well.
If Vicente loses to Goldstein, he should think of another career.
Casachallenger
Well Hrbaty is the number 1 seed, this alone says what you need to know about Casachallenger. At the same time it has some good players there, who are either out of form, coming back from injury or enjoy the Moroccaan ambience.
Chucho Acasuso is the 2nd seed here and really needs some wins to gain some confidence in what has been a disappointing start to the year for him, after such a good 2006. The draw has been kind to him for sure, playing Devilder who flew from Bermuda after making the QFs and then the winner out of Tipsarevic and Llodra. The others in his section are his best friend Vassallo Arguello and his pigeon Mathieu, just hope he can get some confidence.
Mike Russell is back in Europe as well and there were some duds in this draw, but he got Hartfield, aka baby Gaston, though not as temperamental as Gaston and this will be a tough one, but whoever wins that match, has a very good chance of making the quarters.
Roitman is playing Massu again, just hope he doesn’t break down like he did when he was beating him up so badly, but Roitman’s nickname is Escopeta. He hits the ball like a rifle, but the rifle can misfire at times as well, he needs to get some more consistency on the ATP, but there is some potential for growth there.
Too bad Casachallenger and not Barcelona is on the Betfair live stream, but we can’t have it all in life.
10 comments:
Conde de Godó is one of the big events for the tennis lovers, and is probably my favotite ATP tournament.
Good entry list as always.
Looking at the draw, I can't wait to see a third round match between (well rested) Cañas vs. Ferrero.
Mirnyi is not easy, but I expect willy to go far.
Nadal has to lose sooner or later, and I hope el gato Gaudio can make that happen.
If there is a place where Gaudio can get his mojo back, is Barcelona. His best tournament (maybe along with Gstaad or Kitzbuhel).
Mantilla won in his comeback, and should play Moya in second round.
Calleri won too, and I hope I get to see him play Robredo this week.
Almagro vs. Davydenko would be a nice match to see this week too.
Nice to see Andrei Pavel winning against Stepanek, just hope he does not blow his chance to make the third round as he plays either Berlocq or Pashanski.
Felix won and that's great to see and looks like a 1998 semi final rematch with Moya, just hope Charly is in caring mood.
Gaston has an interesting match against Toad, so if he is good enough, then he can do well here. Gaston returning back to the scene of his first title and Jaite his coach won here as well.
Wow, I can't believe Soderling of all players blew Gaudio of all players out of the water.
well, a step backwards from Gaudio and thats the only thing I'm going to say about that.
Nalbandian, Calleri and Cañas won in two, and it seems it will be a much better tournament for the Argentines than Monte Carlo.
Nalbandian played honoring his talent, lets see if he keeps doing it.
Calleri vs. Robredo and possibly Nalbandian vs. Moya in third round.
The Swedish play eachother to decide who plays Nadal. Unless Vliegen pulls the "miracle".
Acasuso won a match as well in Casablanca and maybe he can gain some valuable wins here.
Gaudio, well that was a poor loss, but he is so unpredictable these days, anything can and is likely to happen with him. Calleri coming back well and that's good to see.
I see Nils will be happy with the Seppi/Hernandez doubles team that won their match and they could easily meet in the 3rd round.
Russell had good win as well and will play Benneteau.
Great title for this thread, it is so good just to see Felix back on court, regardless of his matches' outcomes. Today he put up a good fight against his friend Moya. High comedy in the match Ferrer-Goldstein, Vicente should feel mildly embarrased for losing against Goldstein. Calleri is back and pulled off a tough 1st round win against Marc Lopez, now he faces a tough match against Robredo.
Not much to say about Casablanca, the field is much stronger than usual. Roitman and Younes lost early there, it looks like the French players will do well but it is too early, and this is an event where the mighty clay court specialist Bracciali is the current champion.
Felix what a warrior he is. I heard he was cramping up badly and he kept on fighting and got Moya to 6-4 in the 3rd. I hope he can keep going and get to some peak fitness soon.
Moya now plays the moody Nalbandian, this could go either way, as we know Dave isn't in the best of form at the moment.
Volandri and PMK is an interesting 3rd round match and wouldn't be surprised if Volandri got the victory here.
Nadal should play right handed and give ToJo 40-0 headstart in each game to make it interesting.
Nieminen and Seppi, well Seppi starts off with 2 breaks of serve and then loses the set 6-4 and loses serve at 5-6, at least he is winning some matches. He and the legend Hernandez lost in doubles, and now Jarkko plays the King.
Calleri and Robredo, if Calleri can keep the errors/winners at around even, then he has a good chance against Robredo. We all know Boredo doesn't like being pressured, but he will fight for everything and hope Calleri's fitness is Ok.
Russell got schooled today and Chucho should really take this title.
Haha, I saw Lionel Messi in the crowd watching Nalbandian beat Moya. I haven't seen Moya play in a while. He sure misses a lot and seems to have lost confidence in his forehand of all shots. Allez Younes!!!
Calleri, that was an excellent win against Boredo in his comeback event. Boredo is tough to play in Barcelona and he just gets enough balls back into play, but Calleri handled the challenge well and now plays Oscar Hernandez, the 2007 Wimbledon champ.
Cañas has the PMK and hope he has not forgot the last time they played where PMK gave him a lesson.
Acasuso won easily and plays his bitch Mathieu in the quarters and really should make the final here.
I see Nalbandian plays Ferrer who has beaten him so many times.
Cañas defeated Calleri and the match almost went 3 hours. I like Willy and all, but Calleri is a better match up against Nadal.
Montañes, the MM clay lover makes another final. He doesn't do much in the big events, but he is always getting 1 or 2 results to keep him around the top 100.
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