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  • No Nadal, No Problem in Valencia

    4/15/08 2:52 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Rafael Nadal is not in Valencia this week, instead resting up before his grueling clay-court schedule begins. The Spanish faithful, however, still have no shortage of Spaniards to cheer on, as David Ferrer leads a strong armada into the clay-court season.

    World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is not in Valencia this week, and that comes as no surprise considering he is about to embark on crucial stretch of point-defending that includes tournaments in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome, and Hamburg en route to the French Open. Not only that, but Nadal is also coming off a brutal hard-court run in which he reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, the semifinals in Indian Wells, and the final in Miami.

    While Nadal’s absence—although expected—clearly depreciates the entertainment value in Valencia, the Spanish fans should actually be glad that Nadal decided to rest this week. Not only does it set Nadal up nicely for the much more important events in the coming weeks, but it also provides a great opportunity for other Spaniards to step up and win a title on their home soil.

    There are plenty of Spanish contenders in Valencia to do just that. David Ferrer, who really broke out in 2007 by climbing from 14 to 5 in the ATP rankings, is the top seed this week. This year has not progressed as smoothly as last season did for Ferrer (he reached the quarterfinals in his first two events, including the Aussie Open, but has since slumped), but the baseline grinder should be able to catch fire on the red clay.

    Tommy Robredo is seeded third in Valencia (second among Spaniards), but he is far from the top of the Spanish threats to win this week or contend down the road. Robredo is down to 18th in the world and he seems poised for a continued plummet if he does not turn things around right now. His 4-6 match record in 2008 is not going to cut it, but perhaps the move to clay will help.

    Fourth-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, ranked just one spot below Robredo, started out the year hot with a runner-up showing in Auckland and a fourth-round appearance at the Australian Open, but his game has also tailed off recently. He’ll never be the player he was back when he won the French Open in 2003, but he can still contend to make the second week of Grand Slams (especially the French) and a strong showing in Valencia would prepare him for such a run.

    Nicolas Almagro, the defending champion, is only the No. 5 seed this week—fourth among Spaniards—but his chances to take home the title are arguably second to none. While pretty much all of his compatriots prefer the red dirt to hard courts and grass, Almagro is the essence of a clay-court specialist. Take this young season for example: Almagro is just 2-4 in hard-court matches, but in three clay-court tournaments he has one quarterfinal appearance and two titles. With that in mind, it’s hard not to consider him the Valencia favorite and a serious threat to go deep at Roland Garros.

    Like Ferrer, Robredo, and Ferrero, Fernando Verdasco, the No. 7 seed, is also looking to gather some much-needed momentum before the clay Masters Series events and the French Open. He has been consistently subpar this season, losing in the second round of all seven of his tournaments (he lost his first match in Miami, but had a bye in the first round). Verdasco could meet Ferrer in the Valencia quarterfinals.

    Second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina and No. 6 seed Igor Andreev of Russia will look to deprive the Spanish crowd of a hometown champion in Valencia, but with such a strong crop of Spaniards, the odds are with the trophy staying in Spain.

    The bottom line is that with Nadal out of the picture, everyone in this field—not just the Spaniards—has a great opportunity to build confidence as massive amounts of rankings points loom on the horizon.

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Comments

please!!
he ain't no bad boy, hes a good player but lets not get carried away.
so hes been a bitch now and then, that doesn't make him bad, its just shows that hes immature.
Tennis doesn't need a badboy, it just needs a few hotties like rafa to get the girls going!!

ilr , 4/19/08 8:48 AM


I think this comment was meant for a different article???

RickyDimon , 4/19/08 4:47 PM



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