Nicolas Almagro

The eighth-seeded Almagro overcame a turbulent start against former World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero before sealing a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the last of the quarter-finals. Almagro won the first 11 points of the match, before Ferrero rallied to avoid the double break and levelled at 2-2. Almagro raised his game, though, and won seven of the next nine games before going on to claim victory in 64 minutes.

A day earlier, the 25-year-old Almagro had guaranteed he will become the 17th different Spaniard to break the Top 10 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings on Monday with his third-round win over Nikolay Davydenko. He is bidding to reach his fourth clay-court final of the season, after winning back-to-back titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov) and Buenos Aires (d. Chela) and finishing runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Ferrer) in February.

"I expect a big battle like every match against David," said Almagro. "The last one was in Acapulco which he won 6-3 in the third and it was a very intense match. I hope tomorrow is another good match that everyone can enjoy. Statistics are there to be broken, and tomorrow would be a good time to try and get my first win over him."

Spain’s Nicolas Almagro broke new ground in his career on Thursday when he defeated Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(2), 6-3 in the third round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. In reaching the quarter-finals of the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament, the 25-year-old Almagro will crack the Top 10 of the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings on Monday.

Murcia native Almagro will be the 17th different Spaniard to reach the Top 10 in the history of the South African Airways ATP Rankings (since August 23, 1973). He will join No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 6 David Ferrer as the third Spaniard amongst the game’s current crop of elite players.

"I knew that today's match could have a special reward," said Almagro. "It was the third time I had a chance to get to the Top 10, after Acapulco and Monte-Carlo first. It's an incredible feeling. There’s no better place to achieve it than in my home club in front of my own people and my family and all the home support. It’s a great reward for myself and the work of my whole team.

Almagro can attribute much of his success in 2011 to his achievements on clay. The right-hander dominated the Latin American “Golden Swing” in February, winning back-to-back titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov) and Buenos Aires (d. Chela) before finishing runner-up in Acapulco (l. to Ferrer).

Nicolas Almagro is on a mission to break the Top 10 of the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings this week, and is one win away from doing so after reaching the third round of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell on Tuesday.

The eighth-seeded Spaniard opened his campaign at the ATP World Tour 500 clay-court tennis tournament with a second-round win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar 7-5, 7-6(1) in just under two hours.

The No.11-ranked Almagro improved to a 16-2 mark on clay this season, the best record on tour. He dominated the Latin American “Golden Swing” in February, winning back-to-back titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov) and Buenos Aires (d. Chela), but was denied a clean sweep as he lost to David Ferrer in the Acapulco final.

World No. 12 Nicolas Almagro came through an all-Spanish clash with Marcel Granollers, 6-3, 6-3, to open his campaign. The 25 year old broke serve four times and won 83 per cent of points behind his first serve to triumph in 86 minutes.

Almagro has been one of the form players of the 2011 ATP World Tour season and came within one victory of completing a sweep of the Latin American “Golden Swing” in February when he won back-to-back titles in Costa do Sauipe (d. Dolgopolov) and Buenos Aires (d. Chela) before finishing runner-up to David Ferrer in Acapulco.

Almagro will play doubles with Raonic in Monte Carlo 2011.

Uncomplimentary piece about Almagro and his tanking exploits in Auckland:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10698606

Heineken Open tournament director Richard Palmer wasn't put off by Nicolas Almagro's behaviour at this year's tournament when he accepted the request for a wildcard for January's event.

Almagro was the recipient of one of the three wildcards for the open yesterday, with the world No 15 joining direct entries David Ferrer (No 7) and John Isner (19) as the other players in the top 20 coming next month.

Although Spain's Almagro is one of the most exciting players on the circuit when he's in the right mood, he left spectators at this year's open with a sour taste in their mouths by putting in an abysmally lacklustre performance.

He was the fourth seed but in his first match he complained of a sore wrist and went on to chuck his match against little-known Frenchman Marc Gicquel, losing 6-0 6-3, barely bothering to run around the court.

Despite this, Palmer said it was a no-brainer for him to give Almagro a wildcard, especially as he isn't going to be paid an appearance fee, which would normally be the case for a player with his ranking.

"Even though this year he had an injury early in the match [in Auckland] and there was some criticism of his effort after that, I guess you have to be realistic and remember that this is someone preparing for the Australian Open and that has to take precedence," Palmer said.

"He could have perhaps pushed himself a bit harder, but he was aware that the Australian Open was just around the corner. Hopefully he's matured a bit.

"It's a funny situation where we're not paying him anything, the wildcard is payment enough and with the talent he's got he could blow everyone away here."

From ATP Auckland.

Nico has been granted a Wild Card for Auckland. There will be now three players from the top 20 playing this event!

Almagro has paid the price for failing to defend his points from the Acapulco title last year, they've come off in the latest rankings released today and the Spaniard finds himself down 13 spots to #40 - the lowest he's been in some time.

Spain captain Albert Costa has called up Nicolas Almagro to replace the injured Juan Carlos Ferrero in the champions' team to face Switzerland in their Davis Cup first-round tie starting on Friday.