Analysis for Granollers-Montanes (ATP Barcelona)

Head-to-head record 1:0

What an interesting match-up between 2 Spanish clay courters here. There is not much to be said. Both of these players have the same style of play. They are defensive baseliners returning every ball and rely on the opponent making mistakes. They have consistent shots, make few errors of their own while making it difficult for opponents to hit winners. Their game has more to do with physical determination to retrieve un-retrievable balls and immense fitness. They tend to make relatively few errors because they don't attempt the complicated and ambitious shots. Both of them have speed and agility to cover the court. We expect a tight match with the long rallies from the baseline. Both Granollers and Montanes are having a solid season. Granollers qualified for the 2008 Australian Open Singles Draw, but lost to Evgeny Korolev in the first round. He reached the quarterfinals of the 2008 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, before losing to Jose Acasuso. On April 20th, he won his first ATP singles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, defeating James Blake in the final and that is why he seems to be over valued here. These two played one another earlier this year and Montanes started around 1.6 there. Bearing in mind the latest results reached by Granollers, we think that Montanes should be around 2.2. Anything above this represents value for us. Montanes has been a consistently good player during his career and we think he has a solid chance today.