17th week

The weather in Barcelona was ugly, especially in the last four days. Most of players who advanced to the third round, were forced to play two matches on Friday, semifinals on Saturday were delayed, the final on Sunday was entirely played in rain, spectators were sitting in jackets under umbrellas (just 12 Celsius). For Rafael Nadal [5] it doesn’t matter the weather is good or bad, he’s always supposed to win a title on clay-courts. Theoretically sunny days are beneficial for him because his heavy topspins bounce higher, but in chilly conditions he wins easily as well, simply putting bigger emphasis on his defensive skills – won all sets this week he played and has extended the streak of winning sets at the ‘Open Banc Sabadell’ to 39 (the last set he lost occurred during a 2008 final to Ferrer – a runner-up in the last two years, this time sensationally ousted in the second round by Tursunov). It’s Nadal’s 54th title (8th consecutive in Barcelona, he has won 39 straight matches in Catalonia which signifies the fourth best winning streak of the Open era in one tournament). The Mallorcan improved to 10-0 versus Almagro, whom defeated in the final (the underdog kicked off with a *3:0 lead in the 1st set). Almagro becomes sixth player with at least 10 negative differential against Rafa in head to head #
Sometimes the saddest moments in life are entwined with the most happy ones. Something like this experienced 27-year-old Lukas Rosol in Bucharest. Rosol’s father passed away on April 14th, exactly two weeks later the Czech won his maiden ATP title (third player in 2013 to have achieved this feat). Rosol [48] played above his level all week outplaying two main favorites: Seppi & Simon (the Frenchman lost his first match at the ‘BRD Nastase Tiriac Trophy’, having won 16 in a row). “I wanted to dedicate this trophy to someone, so I found the energy,” said Rosol. “I felt somebody was helping me from up top. It’s not just about me. My family has always supported me and my tennis. I felt match after match, my dream was coming true.” The beaten finalist, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, a couple of weeks ago broke his career-worst 12-match losing streak.

Finals

Barcelona (500)
S: (2)Rafael Nadal d. (4)Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3
D: A.Peya/B.Soares d. (3)R.Lindstedt/D.Nestor 5-7, 7-6(7), [10-4] – 1 m.p.

Bucharest (250)
S: Lukas Rosol d. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-2
D: (1)M.Mirnyi/H.Tecau d. L.Dlouhy/O.Marach 4-6, 6-4, [10-6]

Choker of the week:
Martin Klizan. The Slovak after winning 1st set easily against Philipp Kohlschreiber (Barcelona, third round), wasted a mini-match point at 4-all in the 2nd set. In the 3rd set, Klizan had a match point leading 5:4*, then came back from 0:4 to 4-all in the deciding tie-break, a moment later was two points away from victory at 5-all. The German won 1-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(5).

# Nadal’s most lopsided H2Hs:
17-4 David Ferrer
13-1 Fernando Verdasco
13-3 Tomas Berdych
10-0 Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu & Nicolas Almagro