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  • Preview: Nicolas Almagro (2) vs Filippo Volandri (5)

    2/15/08 3:32 PM | Cheryl Murray
    - Filippo Volandri had an easy second round match against an out-of-sorts Guillermo Coria but he will not find such cooperation from his quarterfinal opponent, Spain's Nicolas Almagro.

    The two men have met five times in their career and Volandri holds the slight edge at 3-2. They met twice in 2007 and split the results. Volandri won in Barcelona in a tight three set match and Almagro won in the qualifiers in Valencia.

    It is difficult to ascertain Volandri's form based on his last round match because Volandri did not win it so much as Coria lost it, but it looks as though Almagro is playing the better of the two at the moment. Almagro had his best year ever in 2007, advancing to the quarterfinals or better in 7 ATP tournaments. He matches last year's quarterfinal appearance and will desperate to improve on that this year. He is ranked 31 at the moment. Volandri also had a good 2007, making the semifinals in Rome and beating Roger Federer along the way. Volandri lost in the first round of the Brasil Open last year.

    Almagro has the better serve of the two and also seems to be returning better than the Italian. Volandri may have the edge in movement, but just barely. Except for the last encounter, all of the matches were straight set wins, which most likely means that match-up is not so much the issue as their form on that day. All things considered, I think Almagro will take it in 2.

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