2010 Valencia Open 500: “Spaniards falling out left right centre”
Having lost the title to a non Spanish professional last year, Spain desperately hopes to have a homegrown champion this year. With eleven Spaniards competing in the tournament, Spain had greatly increased her chances for a title
win – or so she thought!
Coming into Tuesday, Spain already lost a contender for the title when wild card entry Roberto Bautista-Agut lost his first round match against Argentinean Juan Monaco on Monday.
As play drew to a close on Tuesday, one by one five more locals fell out of the title run. Locals Nicolas Almagro and Daniel Gimeno-Traver kicked off the day’s play at Agora. Call it luck or pure coincidence, but pitting locals
against each other means one less local for the other players to worry about. As the two compatriots met on the court, it was inevitable for Spain to lose one of its players at the match’s end. Almagro was the first Spaniard to fall out of the title race.
What came as a shock to fans and critics alike was the dismissal the of two- time Valencia champion from the tournament. Gimeno, enjoying the home town advantage, played superbly against the former Valencia champion. In a three set match that followed, the
final match score was 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Another Spaniard’s dismissal came in the form of Feliciano Lopez who drew against world number four and top seed, Andy Murray in the round of thirty two. Murray, who has recently qualified for the London finals, has been in top
form throughout the season with two ATP Masters 1000 titles to his name for the year. Murray was merciless against Lopez in the first set winning it 6-1. Although Lopez tried to bounce back in the second set, taking it to tie breaker, he ultimately lost (1)6-7
to Murray’s superior skill set.
2008 Valencia champion Spaniard David Ferrer returned to the Agora with hopes of regaining his lost title. Seeded fourth in the tournament, Ferrer drew against countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the first round. What followed
was an inevitable Spanish “casualty”. Ranking seventh in the year-to-date (YTD) ATP rankings, Ferrer had both luck and talent on his side though his start was a little disappointing. Both professionals were neck to neck in their first set, taking it into the
tie breaker; however, Garcia won the tie breaker after winning four consecutive points after being levelled at 3-3. As pattern defines it, it is usually the winner of the tie breaker who takes the second set, but Ferrer came into full form and won the next
two consecutive sets 6-3, 6-3.
Swede Robin Soderling also made an impressionable debut at Valencia today ousting Spaniard Albert Montanes in a straight set win. Although Montanes has two titles to his name this season, he was brushed aside by second seed Soderling
in a 1-6, 4-6 defeat. Another seeded player who struck a deadly blow to the Spanish chances was Russian Nikolay Davydenko. Losing only thirteen points on service, Davydenko dismissed local wild card entry Javier Marti by a twin set score of 6-2, 6-2.
The only Spanish victory against a non Spanish opponent came when wild card entry Pablo Andujar faced Russian Dmitry Tursunov. Call it a sliver of luck in an otherwise bad fortune streak, Andujar was able to move into the round
of sixteen only after Tursunov retired from the match due to an injury.
Andujar joins compatriots Fernando Verdasco, Ferrer and Gimeno in the title race while lucky loser Marcel Granollers’s fate is yet to be decided.
Tags: