Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Almagro: Quarter-Final Preview – French Open 2012
King of clay, Rafael Nadal, will face off his 12th seeded compatriot, Nicolas Almagro, in the quarter-finals at the Roland Garros 2012, a prestigious clay court tournament taking place in Paris, France. Nadal is coming off slaying his Argentinean
friend, Juan Monaco, with double bagels while Almagro tumbled over Janko Tipsarevic in straight sets.
The defending champion, Nadal, is at his peak at this second of the four Grand Slam events. He lost fewest numbers of games through first four rounds as compared to his performance at this event since 2005. The Spaniard lost 19 games till the round of 16
and no player has lost fewer games since Guillermo Vilas dropped 16 games in 1982.
The top Spaniard toppled Monaco by registering a 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 victory in one hour and 46 minutes. He dusted away both breakpoints he faced and cashed in eight out of 10 break opportunities, subsequently reeling off the last 17 games in a row before clinching
the match.
"Very happy the way I played... I feel really comfortable, really at ease," said the always-charismatic Nadal after crushing Monaco. "When the tournament is over, I'll tell you if this was my best Roland Garros or not. For the time being, I'm still playing.
So far, so good, but we'll see."
The second seeded Spaniard is looking forward to capture his seventh title at this major tournament and has yet to lose a set.
Almagro on the other end is bidding for his 200th clay court win at the Roland Garros. He is also at his top form and has yet to drop a set. In his last battle against the Serbian number two, the lower seed hammered 43 winners and smashed nine
aces to formulate a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 success. He lost his serve twice but capitalised on five out of 12 break chances, eventually stealing the show in two hours and 13 minutes.
"I'm very happy," Almagro was quoted after trashing the Serb. "I think I played great tennis today. The day was a little bit cloudy, but now it's really sunny for me. [The] win is one of the best moments of my career and I want to enjoy [it]."
Both Spaniards are facing each other for the eighth time with the former world number one, Nadal, leading the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 7-0 against his compatriot. They last fought each other at the final eight
stage at this event two years ago where the higher ranked Spaniard penned down a 7-6(2), 7-6(3), 6-4 victory.
Almagro conquered a title at the Nice ATP event before entering this tournament. However, Nadal’s skills are fully polished at this stage and he is expected to clobber a 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-5 score line against his fellow citizen. He is still unbeaten on the
red clay courts this circuit and has already grabbed two titles on clay (Barcelona Open BancSabadell and Internazionali BNL D’Italia).
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