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  • Monte-Carlo Third Round: Igor Andreev vs. Nicolas Almagro

    4/24/08 5:24 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - While neither Igor Andreev nor Nicolas Almagro are seeded, both were expected to advance this far at the Masters Series Monte-Carlo. Both have, and the result is a marquee clay-court matchup in the third round.

    Two clay-court standouts will square off on Thursday in Monte-Carlo when Igor Andreev meets Nicolas Almagro. It’s hard to imagine a more quality matchup between two unseeded players. Not only should it feature some outstanding tennis, but it should also be a close battle, and it will be if their previous meetings are any indication. They have played five times—all between 2005 and 2006—with Andreev holding a 3-2 edge. Almagro, however, has won two of three encounters on clay.

    Like Almagro, Andreev also feels right at home on the dirt, but the Russian enjoyed some nice results on the hard courts earlier this season. Currently ranked 32nd in the world, Andreev reached the third round of the Australian Open, the quarterfinals in Dubai, and most impressively the quarterfinals of the Masters Series Miami. If he can do all that on a surface that he doesn’t particularly love, there’s no telling how successful he can be during this clay-court swing. Andreev is certainly off to a good start on the slow stuff, having taken out compatriots Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny to reach this stage of the tournament.

    Almagro has already won clay-court titles this season in Costa Do Sauipe, Brazil and Acapulco, Mexico. The Spaniard also reached the quarterfinals in Buenos Aires and the final in Valencia, where he lost a thriller to David Ferrer. A consistent force on clay over the past few years, Almagro is really on fire on the surface in 2008 and outside of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, he has to be considered a top contender for any clay-court title. He definitely looks like a contender so far in Monte-Carlo, as he dispatched hometown favorite Jean-Rene Lisnard in round one before driving Juan Monaco into second-set retirement.

    Thursday’s showdown is simply going to be a baseline slugfest. It will be a test between Almagro’s lethal one-handed backhand against Andreev’s huge topspin forehand. Whichever player does the better job of dictating play and therefore being able to avoid his opponent’s main weapon will prevail. With Almagro playing like he’s nothing short of a clay-court genius at the moment, chances are he will be the one left standing at the end of the day.

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