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  • ATP Valencia: Monaco (2) vs Almagro (5)

    4/18/08 8:48 AM | David Cox
    - Almagro faces the first real challenge to his Valencia dominance of the week. His current winning streak in the Spanish city stands at 12 after two very routine straight sets victories leading up to this quarter-final

    After a ropey performance in the opening match Monaco looked back to his usual self yesterday, overcoming Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-4. He beat Almagro 6-1, 7-6 in the Bueno Aires semis last year and although the head-to-head stands at 1-1, Almagro’s win came over 5 years ago in a futures.

    However since that last loss to Monaco, Almagro has established himself as a definite force to be reckoned with on clay, 4 finals in the past year and 2 titles in 2008 to date, both won on the South American swing back in February (he beat Moya and Nalbandian to win in Costa do Sauipe and then Acapulco). Monaco hasn’t been as dominant on the red stuff but has achieved a lot more on other surfaces which is why he’s in the top 20.

    Almagro has the more effective serve while Monaco possesses the better backhand. It’s going to be an interesting tussle, my pick is Almagro to make it 13 wins, edging it in 3

    Haase vs Korolev

    The two comeback kids face off for a place in the last 4, both men know what its like to be on the brink after saving match points in round 2. It’ll be a first semi-final of the year for the winner, both have fallen twice at the last 8 stage in 2008. Haase is establishing himself as a dangerous floater in the draws after some big wins this season - Murray and Baghdatis; he also won the super-strong Sunrise challenger (between Indian Wells and Miami) with wins over Tipsarevic and Grosjean. Korolev will be looking to make it back in the top 100 sometime soon and a win over Haase today would do it (he was defending points from last year’s Valencia quarters).

    Prediction: Haase in 2

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