Analysis for Gremelmayr-Ramirez Hidalgo (ATP Barcelona)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain will play Dennis Gremelmayr of Germany in the first round at Barcelona Open. Both players spent most of their careers on challenger circuit and both of them achieved similar successes. Furthermore, both of them were really close to beat Roger Federer in last two weeks. Gremelmayr is currently better ranked but Ramirez is a better clay court player in our eyes. His style of play is all about hitting the balls from the baseline and waiting for opponent´s error. At the 2008 Monte Carlo Masters, Hidalgo almost defeated World No.1 Roger Federer. He lost the first set 6-1, but won the second when Federer lost his serve and won it 6-3 and in the final deciding set he was leading 1-5 up and 30-15 but lost his serve and eventually the set and match. Gremelmayr reached the semifinals of the Estoril Open 2 weeks ago, bowing out to ATP leader Roger Federer, in 3 sets. But this was a rare success he has achieved on clay and we think he is more offensive minded player than his opponent and that he would appreciate the faster surface. We think that German is a bit overvalued here and Hidalgo shouldn´t be above 1.8 here.