by Richard Lucas
Photo Credit Daniel Huerlimann

(May 21, 2011)
In continuing his 2011 dominance of 250 level clay court events, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro now has three victories in three events after fighting past Victor Hanescu for a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 victory in Nice.

The 12th-ranked Almagro improved to 24-5 on the dirt this year, and will move past Andy Roddick who is out with a right shoulder injury, as well as the top-ranked Frenchman Gael Monfils who did not play this week. This will be the second time this year that Almagro has cracked into the top-10.

The Spaniard served poorly throughout the match, only 48 percent, but rode his 10 aces to victory after droping the first set in a close tiebreak. In typical Almagro fashion, he dictated points with his explosive groundstrokes and clinched the match with two straight aces.

With Roland Garros starting on Sunday, Almagro hopes to improve on his previous best of reaching the quarterfinals in 2008 and 2010. He was eliminated in three sets by eventual champion Rafael Nadal on both occasions.

His draw appears to be fairly open until a possible meeting with Nadal, Robin Soderling, or Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals. He could face the 2010-semifinalist Jurgen Melzer in the fourth round and resurgent Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.