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  • Barcelona Preview: First Round, First Half

    4/29/08 3:46 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - Some decent first-round matches are off the board after Day 1 in Barcelona, but several marquee clashes remain to make Day 2 even more intriguing. Jose Acasuso and Feliciano Lopez lead the charge in the first half of the draw.

    Jose Acasuso vs. (16) Feliciano Lopez

    This is an enticing matchup on any surface, but it’s that much better on clay. It’s going to be a mano-a-mano showdown between Argentine and Spaniard. Lopez won their only previous meeting—on clay—but it came way back in 2002, so that’s no longer relevant. Acasuso had a run of good tennis earlier this season, reaching a semifinal and a final on clay followed by an impressive fourth-round showing on the hard courts of Miami. Lopez moved through a star-studded field to reach the final in Dubai last month, but has done little else in 2008. He has the bigger serve and more power from the baseline, but Acasuso is more consistent and that should prove to be the difference on clay.

    Ernests Gulbis vs. Janko Tipsarevic

    Two of my favorites here. Advice to anyone in Barcelona: both players are extremely fun to watch and this match is out on court three, so go over there and get right near the court for some entertaining, up-close-and-personal action. Whether or not it turns out to be a close contest is a different story. You never know what you’re going to get from Gulbis. The 19-year-old Latvian has all the talent in the world—literally—but can completely collapse in Safin-esque fashion when his forehand breaks down. Clay is also not friendly to his powerful game. Tipsarevic, who made a name for himself in Australia by losing to Roger Federer in a five-set instant classic, is all-around solid. He reached the quarterfinals in Miami and won two matches in Monte-Carlo last week, so he is playing with confidence and should have the edge in this one, especially on this surface. If Gulbis gets hot and serves well, however, anything can happen.

    Nicolas Almagro vs. Viktor Troicki

    This is the hardest possible first-round draw for Troicki, because the top eight seeds in the tournament received byes and it would be almost impossible to argue that Almagro is not the best player among the rest. The Spaniard is simply a master on clay courts and he has already won two titles on the slow stuff this season. Almagro also reached the final in Valencia two weeks ago before suffering a minor setback to Igor Andreev in the third round of Monte-Carlo. Troicki doesn’t exactly love clay, but he is solid from the baseline and enjoyed a strong run to the final of a Challenger event on green clay last week. The Serb is no pushover, but it’s hard to imagine him taking a set from Almagro.

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