Tag Archives: Nicolas Almagro

Cuevas Gunning for Record Third Consecutive Brasil Open Title

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Pablo Cuevas is gunning for a three-peat …

The 31-year-old Argentine-born Uruguayan tennis player will go for a record third consecutive Brasil Open title on Sunday.

Pablo Cuevas

Cuevas dismissed top seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 6-3, 7-6(2) on Saturday in Sao Paulo to give himself a chance for the three-peat.

The third-seed won 82 percent of his first-serve points and feasted on Carreno Busta’s second serves, taking 70 percent of those points.

Since the first edition of the Brasil Open, in 2001, no player has won back-to-back-to-back titles at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro won back-to-back crowns in 2011-2012 but fell in the quarter-finals to David Nalbandian in 2013.

Cuevas has avoided such slip-ups this week.

He’ll try to win his sixth career ATP World Tour title – all on clay – against second seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Cuevas leads their head-to-head series 3-1. The Spaniard erased a match point on Saturday against Portuguese Joao Sousa to win his semifinal 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2 on the red clay.

Sousa had the match on his racquet, serving at 5-4 in the second set. The fourth seed fell behind 0/40 but crawled back into the game and led at ad-in. But Ramos-Vinolas erased the match point with a sharp forehand up the line that Sousa netted.

The Spaniard would earn the break and take the final nine of 11 games to claim the three-hour and three-minute semi-final.

Ramos-Vinolas last played in an ATP World Tour title match in October at the Chengdu Open in China (l. to Khachanov). He’ll be going for his second ATP World Tour crown after taking his maiden title last July on clay at the Swedish Open in Bastad (d. Fernando Verdasco).

Almagro Defeats Pablo Carreno Busta to Win the Estoril Open

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Nicolas Almagro’s ATP title drought is officially over…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis player rallied from a set down to beat fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 (6), 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Sunday to claim the Estoril Open title.

Nicolas Almagro

It’s Almagro 13th career title — all on clay — and his first since winning the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in May 2012.

Almagro twice wasted chances to serve out the first set and squandered a 6-2 lead in the opening tiebreaker. Almagro completed the fight back in just under three hours. He had 12 aces and converted five of 19 break chances to beat the eighth-seeded Carreno Busta.

Almagro will now move on to the Madrid Masters event, where he’ll play Borna Coric in the first round.

Almagro Defeats Nick Kyrgios to Reach the Estoril Open Final

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Nicolas Almagro is one win away from ending a four year drought…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis player and clay-court specialist beat second-seeded Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-5 at the Estoril Open on Saturday to reach his second final of the season.

Nicolas Almagro

Almagro will face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who upset third-seeded Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-3 in the other semifinal at the clay-court tournament.

The 71st-ranked Almagro saved the only two break points he conceded in the entire match and served seven aces to reach his second final after losing to Dominic Thiem in Argentina in February.

Almagro has 12 career ATP titles, all on clay. He hasn’t won a tournament in four years.

The eighth-seeded Carreno Busta, 24, upset top-seeded Gilles Simon in Friday’s quarterfinals.

The 50th-ranked Spaniard played in his first final at the Brazil Open in February, losing to Pablo Cuevas.

Nadal Defeats Carlos Berlocq to Reach Argentina Open Final

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Rafael Nadal is back in a men’s final after a long drought…

The 28-year-old Spanish tennis star beat Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Saturday, setting up an all-Latino final against Juan Monaco at the Argentina Open.

Rafael Nadal

If he wins Sunday, Nadal will tie Guillermo Vilas for the most clay-court titles with 46.

The top-seeded Nadal was on the brink of losing the first set against the 74th-ranked Berlocq, falling 6-1 to the Argentine in the tiebreak, but the Spaniard won eight of the next nine points to make his first final since winning the Roland Garros title almost nine months.

Monaco, seeking his second title at the Argentina Open, edged Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4 in 2 hours, 28 minutes.

The 60th-ranked Argentine saved 12 of 15 the break points he allowed to Almagro.

Nadal Wins His Fourth Title at the Madrid Open

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Rafael Nadal is back in title-winning form…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, won his fourth Madrid Open title on Sunday after Japan’s Kei Nishikori was forced to retire their match with an injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the men’s final.

Rafael Nadal

Nishikori’s powerful groundstrokes helped him win the first set against the Nadal, who couldn’t find a way to counter his opponent.

Nadal slowly worked his way back into the match and broke Nishikori twice in the second set to even the match.

But Nishikori was in obvious discomfort in the third, even receiving treatment on his lower back during a medical timeout, before calling it quits.

Nadal recovered from two recent quarterfinal round losses on clay to win his second title on the surface this year. He began his clay court season with a quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters. He was also stunned by Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open.

Giraldo Upsets Nicolas Almagro to Reach Barcelona Open Final

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Santiago Giraldo is one step closer to earning his first career ATP title…

The 26-year-old Colombian professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 65 in the world, beat Spain’s Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Barcelona Open final.

Santiago Giraldo

Giraldo will face fourth-seeded Kei Nishikori after the Japanese player beat Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-2, 6-4 in the other semifinal on the red outdoor clay.

Almagro slumped to his first loss in six meetings with Giraldo, a day after one of his biggest wins when he upset eight-time winner Rafael Nadal at the Real Club de Tenis.

“Yesterday’s game doesn’t serve as an excuse,” Almagro said. “Giraldo grazed perfection today, above all in the first set, and I couldn’t find the answer.”

The unseeded Giraldo will be playing for his first career title on Sunday after he saved six of seven break points and finished the match with an emphatic ace.

“I have always dreamed of reaching the top spots of the ATP ranking and tomorrow is a first step,” Giraldo said. “But I am staying calm. I will keep to my routine and tomorrow will be a day to enjoy and play the best tennis I can.”

Giraldo prevailed in a match that featured several long rallies by proving more precise with his long groundstrokes.

The first set was heading for a tiebreaker until Giraldo snatched it away by breaking Almagro’s last service game when he swatted a forehand return by the feet of the last year’s finalist.

Almagro got an early break in the second set, but Giraldo won it right back and took control as Almagro’s nerves frayed with the match slipping away.

“He believed more in his tennis, in how he had to play, and he barely made any mistakes,” Almagro said. “I committed errors when I could have gone in front. That was the key.”

Almagro Beats Rafael Nadal for the First Time to Reach Barcelona Open Semifinals

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For the first time in his career, Nicolas Almagro has taken down Rafael Nadal…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional tennis player beat his compatriot on Friday in a hard-fought, three-set quarterfinal match at the Barcelona Open, ending the World No. 1’s 41-match winning streak at the tournament.

Nicolas Almagro

Nadal was looking for his ninth title in Barcelona but lost a week after going out in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters to David Ferrer.

Nadal, widely considered the greatest clay-court player of all time, hadn’t lost in Barcelona since his debut as a 15-year-old in 2003, although he missed the tournament in 2010. He had not dropped a set here since the 2008 final.

Almagro, ranked No. 20 in the world, converted his second match point, smashing a forehand down the line for his first career victory over Nadal on the 11th try.

“I had a lot of opportunities in the second set,” Nadal said. “I didn’t take advantage of break points, so credit goes to him.”

After failing to convert any of his five break points in the second set, Nadal missed a return in the tiebreaker to give Almagro a 6-5 lead. Almagro followed up with a crosscourt forehand winner to level the match and end Nadal’s streak of 44 straight sets at the tournament.

Both players were steady on serve until an exchange of breaks made it 4-4 in the third, and Nadal then sent a shot long to be broken again and give Almagro a chance to serve for the match.

Nadal set up two straight chances to break back, but hit a forehand long and then sent a smash into the net with Almagro out of position.

Nadal then saved the first match point when Almagro’s backhand flew wide. But Almagro used a serve-and-volley to save a third break point of the game before Nadal’s long return set up the second match point.

“This is an important win for my career,” said Almagro, who celebrated wildly. Almagro will face Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo in Saturday’s semifinals after Philipp Kohlschreiber retired with an injury while trailing 6-4, 4-3.

Verdasco Beats Nicolas Almagro to Win the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship

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It’s “sweet No. 6” for Fernando Verdasco…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis player, currently ranked No. 29 in the world, beat his fellow countryman Nicolas Almagro in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to win the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship on Sunday.

Fernando Verdasco

The victory marks Verdasco’s sixth ATP World Tour singles title and his first singles since April 2010.

With the win, Verdasco ends a six-match losing streak in tournament finals.

He also reached the doubles final and had been on the court six hours longer than Almagro going into the final.

“I’m so tired I don’t know if I can talk so much,” said Verdasco, seeded fourth in the Houston, Texas-based tournament..

Almagro had a walkover in the semifinals when American Sam Querrey pulled out due to a back injury.

Almagro, he tournament’s third-seed reached set point five times against Verdasco’s serve in the ninth game of second set, but couldn’t convert. He also up a mini-break in the tiebreaker before Verdasco rallied.

It’s the second second-place finish in the tournament for Almagro, who lost to John Isner last year.

To date, Almagro has won four of his six singles titles on clay.

“You are never happy when you lose a final,” Almagro said. “I had my chances. But I credit Fernando.”

On Saturday night in the doubles final, twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan beat Verdasco and David Marrero 4-6, 6-4, 11-9.

Delbonis Defeats Paolo Lorenzi at the Brazil Open to Claim His First ATP Title

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The second time’s the charm for Federico Delbonis…

Playing in only his second ATP final, the 23-year-old Argentine tennis player defeated Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Brazil Open final on Sunday to earn his first ATP title.

Federico Delbonis

Delbonis broke Lorenzi’s serve to start the decisive set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 6 minutes after converting on his second match point.

He jumped and punched the air after sending a winner down the line past Lorenzi’s outstretched arms.

Delbonis celebrated a nearly perfect week in which he also reached the semifinals in the doubles tournament.

“To tell you the truth, I have no words,” Delbonis said. “I played well match after match. It was a great result in the end.”

In his first ATP final, Delbonis lost to Italy’s Fabio Fognini last July after upsetting Roger Federer in the semifinals in Hamburg.

With the victory at the ATP 250 tournament in Sao Paulo, Delbonis will move to 45th in the ATP rankings, a career best.

Lorenzi won the first set on Sunday after breaking Delbonis’ serve at 3-3, but the hard-hitting Argentine started serving well and was never broken again, finishing with 12 aces and no double faults.

Delbonis beat home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals. He had defeated second-seeded Nicolas Almagro in the second round, a three-time winner at the Brazil Open.

It was the first time since 2007 that the Brazil Open wasn’t won by a Spanish player. Argentine Guillermo Canas lifted the trophy that year, and after that the tournament was won by Spaniards Almagro, Tommy Robredo, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Rafael Nadal.

Nadal decided not to defend the clay-court title this week. He chose to play in the first Rio Open, which he won last week.

Delbonis Defeats Albert Montanes to Reach the Brazil Open Semifinals

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There’s no crying for Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, only cheering…

The 23-year-old professional tennis player soundly defeated Spain’s Albert Montanes in just over an hour to advance to the Brazil Open semifinals.

Federico Delbonis

Delbonis, currently ranked No. 61 in the world, beat Montanes in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

He’s now one win away from reaching the second ATP tournament final of his career as he continues his quest to win his first career title.

Delbonis will next face either home-crowd favorite Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil or Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t such a positive experience for his fellow countrymen…

Top-seeded Tommy Haas came back to defeat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Haas broke Zeballos’ serve twice in a row in the decisive set to close the match and take a step closer to his second final of the year.

Haas will next play Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who reached his first ATP semifinal with an upset 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

“Lorenzi has been around for a long time so this is a goal I’m sure he has been waiting to achieve for a lifetime,” Haas said. “He has nothing to lose and is going to try to go one more and get to his first ATP tour final. He is a dangerous player. I’m going to have to try to play some of my best tennis.”

The 114th-ranked Lorenzi broke Monaco’s serve to go up 4-3 in the final set and held on to close the match in 2 hours, 34 minutes at the Ibirapuera Arena.

The 32-year-old Italian squandered a match point before losing the second set, but was in control in the third to pick up the win in the ATP 250 tournament in South America’s biggest city.

Lorenzi served 12 aces en route to his first pro semifinal after five career quarterfinal losses.

“I’m very happy to finally break through to the semifinals,” Lorenzi said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities before but was never able to come up with the victory at this stage. For sure this is one of my greatest weeks on the tour.”

The 43rd-ranked Monaco was trying to win his 200th clay-court match. He is the fifth-highest winner on the surface, behind Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco had a set point in the first set but couldn’t capitalize on it.

“It was a very close match, he had his chances in the first set and I had mine in the second, it was very difficult,” Lorenzi said.

Nadal, the defending champion, is not playing at the clay-court tournament this year. He chose to play at the first edition of the Rio Open, which he won last week.