2011 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell: Rafael Nadal vs. Ivan Dodig – Preview
Rafael Nadal and Ivan Dodig will meet in just a few hours at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, where the two players have qualified for the semi-finals of the prestigious clay tournament. It will be the first meeting between
the two players.
This year, Spain’s star seems to be on the rise as the Last Four at Barcelona holds three local tennis players, all of whom are either in, or will be in the ATP Top Ten come Monday. These players are World Number 1 and top seed
Rafael Nadal, sixth seed David Ferrer and clay court specialist Nicolas Almagro.
David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro have already clashed on the court, with the higher-ranked Ferrer emerging as the victor in a straight-sets meeting as Almagro fell to his compatriot 6-3, 6-4. With David Ferrer already in the title
match of the tournament, Rafa’s position is yet to be confirmed.
However, fans of the Spanish superstar have little cause for worry. The player has not lost a match on clay so far, and the only set he has dropped yet was in his semi-final match against third seed Andy Murray at the 2011 Monte
Carlo Masters. The player is in top form, and will probably cruise into the final without a worry.
Fans of the Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig will no doubt argue that the player has fought through some tough matches in the past week, bypassing higher-ranked players such as Swedish Number 1 Robin Soderling and Czech player
Tomas Berdych. However, it is imperative to remember that Tomas Berdych had withdrawn from the tournament before playing even one match, giving Dodig an easy pass to the next round. Although his victory against Robin Soderling was no doubt impressive, the
fact remains that Soderling is currently not in the best form, and his lapse in performance gave Dodig a perfect opportunity to shoot into the semi-finals of the tournament.
All things considered, Dodig was more or less expected to perform well at this tournament. Although ranked quite low at World Number 56, the player improved his stock greatly by winning his first title at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors,
an ATP 250 Series event. He is also the one player who thwarted Novak Djokovic’s attempt at a perfect run at the 2011 Australian Open, as the Serbian did not drop a single set until facing the Croatian underdog.
Despite all this, there is not much debate to be had about Saturday’s meeting between Rafael Nadal and Ivan Dodig. The Spaniard battered former Roland Garros semi-finalist Gael Monfils in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals,
and will, in all probability, make short work of Dodig in the round before the title match.
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