Analysis for Chiudinelli-Almagro (ATP Paris)

Head-to-head record 0:0

Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland will play Nicolas Almagro of Spain. Chiudinelli has a great second half of the year and played some tight matches against the very top players. At 2009 US Open, he came through the quallies and defeated Starace and Youzhny in the first two rounds to be stopped by Davydenko. He entered the 2009 PTT Thailand Open as a qualifier. He defeated German qualifier Florian Mayer in the first round, and followed that up with a second round win over former World No. 1 Marat Safin. Chuidinelli lost a three-set match to top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals. He than qualified for another two Asian tournaments and hasn´t lost his form when he came back to Europe. In Vienna, he pushed the eventual winner Melzer into two breakers and in Basel, he made it to the semifinals where he lost to Federer. His indoor form is solid but he is well under the odds today. He doesn’t deserve to be a favourite against higher ranked and more experienced opponent. Almagro's playing style fits that of an offensive baseliner. Aided by his stocky frame, an uncommon trait on the ATP Tour, Almagro's groundstrokes, particularly on his favored backhand side, are very powerful. Almagro uses a very quick and compact service motion which helps his first serve often exceed speeds of 210 km/h. In addition to his powerful game, Almagro is also known for playing on the edge of his emotions, often losing his temper on-court. He is a quality hard courter and should be the favourite against inexperienced Swiss. Anything above 2 is fine for us.