The ATP’s Barcelona tournament moves to second-round action and so do our tennis picks. You’re going to see seeded players in action after they got a first-round bye. We had a productive start to the week with our picks as we went 3-0 on Tuesday. We had Marcel Granollers to beat Daniel Munoz, and he did so rather easily. Munoz managed to take just seven games in the entire match. We also had Albert Ramos to top Jaume Antoni Munar, and he also had an easy time of things. He beat Munar 6-3, 6-2 while hardly breaking a sweat. Lastly, we had Thiemo de Bakker to take care of Elias Ymer and he did so, but it didn’t come easily. They each won a set to start the match before de Bakker took the third set 6-3.
So will we see some upsets on clay this week? We did last week, when Novak Djokovic lost his first match in Monte Carlo after getting an opening-round bye. Might Rafael Nadal fall victim to the same fate? Here are our tennis picks for Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal vs. Marcel Granollers
There should be no doubt about the winner of this match. Nadal could be vulnerable to some fatigue after playing a two-hour, 46-minute final in the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, but he had two full days off before Barcelona, where he’s going to get a lot of crowd support. Granollers is also Spanish, but he knows that he’s not going to be the player his fellow citizens are going to root for. Nadal has reignited his season by winning in Monte Carlo. It was the breakthrough he’s been chasing for some time. Nadal hadn’t won a Masters 1000 tournament in nearly two years, and he hadn’t won any kind of tournament in nine months – his last victory was in Hamburg, Germany (a 500-point tournament) last July. Now that Nadal has won a precious victory, don’t expect him to lose early in this tournament. He could lose in the later rounds, when he’s a little more fatigued, but Granollers is not explosive enough to ultimately beat Nadal. One set could go 7-5 or 6-4, but that’s about as Granollers is likely to get in any one set. Nadal should win in straights, so take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Nadal in straight sets
Andrey Kuznetsov vs. Inigo Cervantes
This should be a complicated match. Kuznetsov isn’t used to getting byes in 500-point tournaments, but as the 16th and final seed in this event, he has his bye, which means he should be fresh for this match. Unlike Nadal, who faces the task of a top-end player – having to come back to one tournament on Wednesday right after winning the previous tournament on Sunday – Kuznetsov simply got a little more rest than he already had. He wasn’t heard from in Monte Carlo, but that means he should be ready to go in this one. Cervantes won his first-round match over an obscure and relatively unaccomplished opponent. Cervantes got in a good hit, but it remains to be seen if that match truly toughened him up. More questions surround Cervantes. Kuznetsov is therefore the choice for your tennis picks.
Pick: Kuznetsov in three sets
Feliciano Lopez vs. Ivan Dodig
This is a matchup in which Lopez might be the seventh seed, but Dodig is a solid, powerful baseline hitter with a relatively consistent game. It’s not flashy, but it can be effective. Lopez has a serve and an attacking game which are made for grass and a fast hardcourt. Playing on clay takes away Lopez’s strengths, especially when you consider that Lopez (beyond his serve) likes to hit a lot of low, penetrating slices to set up net attacks. That kind of style just doesn’t translate well to clay, so all in all, you should probably go with Dodig here in three. He’s the better option for your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Dodig in three sets
Want to give your comments about this article? You can either leave them here or you can join us on the Get More Sports Forum and talk about this article and many more! Brag about your favorite team, argue about an athlete’s performance or tell us about a game you saw. Join a new community of sports fans who live and breathe sports and sports entertainment. It’s free! Join now!
