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  • Canas starts impressively

    4/29/08 1:47 AM | David Cox
    - 2007 finalist and 9th seed Guillermo Canas produced one of the most impressive performances on day one of the Open Sabadell Atlantico, taking apart experienced Spaniard Oscar Hernandez 6-1, 6-4

    Canas rode his luck on the way to last year’s final before falling 6-3, 6-4 to Nadal but as a result, he has a mountain of points to defend this time round. It’s a bit of a blow for Hernandez who made the quarters last year

    Canas was keen to play down expections post-match, stating how last year he’d come into the tournament on the back of making the Miami final and beating Federer twice, “Last year I was playing at a very high level, but this year I’ve had problems with my wrist and so my expectations are not as high. I love this tournament, I feel very comfortable playing in Barcelona on clay and I would love to return to the final and play Rafa once again.”

    Thomas Johansson has never been at his happiest on clay, the Swede’s flat hitting is never as effective on the dust and the forehand tends to leak errors. It was the same old story against Argentina’s Agustin Calleri today, Calleri breezing through 6-1, 6-3. He was unlucky to oust Canas in the 2007 semis but with Nalbandian awaiting next, he’s unlikely to reach that stage this year

    Nicholas Lapentti rolled back the years to upset 13th seed Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4. It was revenge for their match at the same stage in Valencia when Verdasco edged it 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Lapentti reached no 6 in the world back in 2000 but similar success has eluded him since then

    Max Mirnyi’s had plenty of doubles success on the clay but on a singles court his serve-volley game can make him a bit of a sitting duck. Robin Haase took full advantage in picking off the giant Belarussian’s 2nd serve today, cruising 6-2, 6-2

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