BARCELONA - ATP 500 - Apr. 19-27, 2014.

[GameSetAndMath]

The Nadalites do not have to sulk. They can look forward to Barcelona, a venue where
Nadal has never lost since 2004.

This is a 48 player field with top 16 receiving a first round bye. There are six qualifiers
and 4 wild cards. The qualifying event starts Saturday, the 19th of April and the main event
starts on Monday, the 21st April.

Qualifying Draw can be found here. Qualifying field is headed by future star Dominic Thiem.
The main draw ceremony is scheduled for noon Saturday. Here are top 16 seeds.

1 Nadal, Rafael ESP 1
2 Ferrer, David ESP 4
3 Fognini, Fabio ITA 14
4 Robredo, Tommy ESP 17
5 Almagro, Nicolas ESP 19
6 Janowicz, Jerzy POL 20
7 Nishikori, Kei JPN 21
8 Gulbis, Ernests LAT 22
9 Kohlschreiber, Philipp GER 24
10 Cilic, Marin CRO 26
11 Paire, Benoit FRA 28
12 Tursunov, Dmitry RUS 30
13 Dolgopolov, Alexandr UKR 31
14 Verdasco, Fernando ESP 33
15 Dodig, Ivan CRO 34
16 Granollers, Marcel ESP 36

The four wild cards are Cervantes , Carballes (this is the kid who made it to SF
at Casablanca) and Gimeno-Traver, all of Spain and Arguello of Argentina.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I expect Verdasco to do well in this tournament. He won Houston and then skipped
MC and so should be feeling both confident and rested for this one.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The main draw is out.

 

[Front242]

Hope Gulbis and Nishikori play well and makes things interesting. I'd like to include JJ in my hopes of him doing well too but I've pretty much given up on him unfortunately.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Nadal could potentially face Davydenko in the first match. But, Davy is well past his prime and
so Davy may not become the answer to the trivia question "Who has winning record against
Rafa having played at least 5 matches between them" if he wins his first match. I would
recommend Davy to tank his match and protect his legacy.

 

[Kieran]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

 

[Kieran]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

All of Davy wins against Rafa were on hard courts. Davy has not even come close
to beating Rafa, let alone actually beating, on clay. Other than Davy, for the rest of
the folks with winning record against Rafa, the sample size in terms of number of
matches played between them is too small for the H2H to be of any significance.

 

[Kieran]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

All of Davy wins against Rafa were on hard courts. Davy has not even come close
to beating Rafa, let alone actually beating, on clay. Other than Davy, for the rest of
the folks with winning record against Rafa, the sample size in terms of number of
matches played between them is too small for the H2H to be of any significance.

That's right, they're more or less surface specific in their victories. If Rafa loses against Davy - or anybody else in Barcelona - I'm officially pulling the curtains and not going out...

 

[tennisville]

all I say is Cmon Ramos

 

[I.Haychew]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

Good luck with that! These days, seems the only person that Davydenko can beat is himselph. Also getting the pheeling that the head-to-head bothers you a bit ?

 

[Moxie]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

Good luck with that! These days, seems the only person that Davydenko can beat is himselph. Also getting the pheeling that the head-to-head bothers you a bit ?

Oh, come on…it bothers other people, since it's the only notable one v. Nadal. Kieran was tweaking the tail of GSM, who was hoping Davy could keep it up.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The quals are over. Notable qualifers are D. Thiem (future star), M. Lopez (better known
for being Rafa's doubles partner often) and A. Beck.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

The other seeded players in Rafa's quarter are Lopez,Verdasco and Almagro.

 

[Front242]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

All of Davy wins against Rafa were on hard courts. Davy has not even come close
to beating Rafa, let alone actually beating, on clay. Other than Davy, for the rest of
the folks with winning record against Rafa, the sample size in terms of number of
matches played between them is too small for the H2H to be of any significance.

Actually he's come very close to beating him on clay and I cited this as one of the best matches in best of 3 format in recent years. Rome 2007. Nadal won 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-4. That's a close match!

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh please, oh please, Davydenko, win your opening match!

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

All of Davy wins against Rafa were on hard courts. Davy has not even come close
to beating Rafa, let alone actually beating, on clay. Other than Davy, for the rest of
the folks with winning record against Rafa, the sample size in terms of number of
matches played between them is too small for the H2H to be of any significance.

Actually he's come very close to beating him on clay and I cited this as one of the best matches in best of 3 format in recent years. Rome 2007. Nadal won 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-4. That's a close match!

Yes I remember that match.Though remember that was 7 years ago and Davy isn't anywhere near that level today.

 

[Front242]

I don't mind if Davy wins the opening match and protect his legacy too.

If Davy wins that first match, then sorry, I think he's going down, and then there'll be who? has a winning H2H with Rafa? Pat Rafter, or somebody who beat him when he was three?

All of Davy wins against Rafa were on hard courts. Davy has not even come close
to beating Rafa, let alone actually beating, on clay. Other than Davy, for the rest of
the folks with winning record against Rafa, the sample size in terms of number of
matches played between them is too small for the H2H to be of any significance.

Actually he's come very close to beating him on clay and I cited this as one of the best matches in best of 3 format in recent years. Rome 2007. Nadal won 7-6(3), 6-7(8), 6-4. That's a close match!

Yes I remember that match.Though remember that was 7 years ago and Davy isn't anywhere near that level today.

Yeah, nowhere near it but was just saying he certainly has come close to beating Nadal on clay and it's not like Nadal was a slouch on clay in 2007 either.

 

[Front242]

Sadly since 2010 after that wrist injury, Davydenko has never been the same. The scoreline against Gasquet at the AO this year was far from embarrassing and he still has a lot of game and was ahead in sets there for a bit but he just can't maintain the level he once could.

 

[Front242]

Davydenko and Nishikori I would say are two of the cleanest ball strikers on tour.