The clay court specialist should dominate the weak field on offer, and is incredibly good value to win the tournament at 3/1
Nicolas Almagro has suffered a rocky 12 months. Injury prevented him from competing for almost the entire 2014 season, whilst his comeback in 2015 has been far from smooth, winning just five of ten matches, resulting in his ranking dropping to a lowly 74.
Things are about to get a whole lot better for Nico however. The Miami Masters coming to an end symbolises the start of the clay court season, and this is a part of the year where Almagro traditionally excels.
Learning his trade on the red dirt, the Spaniard has been an ATP winner 12 times, and a finalist 9 times on the surface. At ATP 250 level, he has won in Bastad, Nice, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Costa Do Saupie. His clay credentials are rivalled only by Nadal, Federer and Ferrer, making his price of 3/1 to triumph in a very weak field this week astonishing value.
The world number 74’s route to the final looks very straightforward. He should canter through his first round qualifier, before having to beat number 2 seed Klizan, and number 4 seed Granollers to book a place in the final. Fortunately for Almagro he is 7-0 combined lifetime against the pair, and there is nothing to suggest this run will stop this week.
In the final he will likely face number one seed Guillermo Garcia Lopez, and this will be Nico’s only real test. Garcia Lopez has enjoyed an excellent season, sitting at 17th place in the race for London, and compiling a 10-6 winning record so far this year. He also has an eye for an upset on clay, beating Stan Wawrinka at the French Open last year. Lopez, however, does have a 3-2 losing record against Almagro, and Nicolas should have too much firepower if the pair meet in the final this week.
