RICKY DIMON REPORTS THAT RAFAEL NADAL BACK ON CLAY IN HAMBURG AS PART OF SPANISH-HEAVY FIELD

Written by: Staff on 25th July 2015

RICKY DIMON REPORTS THAT RAFAEL NADAL BACK ON CLAY IN HAMBURG AS PART OF SPANISH-HEAVY FIELD

Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal smiles during a media conference in Hamburg, Germany, 25 July 2015. Nadal will play in the 'bet-at-home Open' (formerly German Open) ATP Wold Tour tornament from 25 July to 02 August for the first time since his last victory at the Rothenbaum Club in 2008. EPA/AXEL HEIMKEN |

Nadal back on clay in Hamburg as part of Spanish-heavy field

By Ricky Dimon

Looking to regain his form that escaped him at Wimbledon–and really this entire season–with a second-round loss to Dustin Brown, Rafael Nadal will return to clay in advance of the upcoming American hard-court swing. Nadal is the No. 1 seed this week at the bet-at-home Open, a 500-point event in Hamburg.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion is set for an opening-round showdown against familiar foe and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. They most famously faced each other in an epic five-setter in the 2009 Australian Open semifinals, won by Nadal. A third-round meeting in Miami earlier this year went Verdasco’s way, adding to the former world No. 1’s 2015 woes.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Steve Johnson of the USA during their second round match at the Mutua Madrid Open tennis tournament in Madrid, Spain, 06 May 2015. EPA/JUANJO MARTIN

Nadal is on a collision course for the quarterfinals with Pablo Cuevas, who lost their head-to-head clash in Rio de Janeiro earlier this season and blatantly tanked the final game of the match in the wee hours of the morning. Cuevas opens with Diego Schwartzman and could run into Jerzy Janowicz in round two.

The other two seeds in the top half of the Hamburg draw are Andreas Seppi and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Seppi may have a tough first-rounder on his hands against solid clay-courter Martin Klizan.

A deep bottom section of the bracket features a pair of rematches from this week’s action in Bastad and Umag. On Saturday afternoon in Bastad, Tommy Robredo took care of Alexander Zverev 6-3, 6-4. The veteran and the youngster will square off again right away in Hamburg. In the Umag quarters on Friday, Roberto Bautista Agut beat Borna Coric 6-3, 6-3. They will collide once more in the Hamburg first round.

Another intriguing first-rounder pits Fabio Fognini against Jeremy Chardy. They are in the same quarter of the draw as Bautista Agut, Coric, and Nicolas Almagro.

At the bottom of the bracket, the Robredo-Zverev winner will go up against either Philipp Kohlschreiber or Benoit Paire. Kohlscreiber is coming off a three-set quarterfinal loss to Gael Monfils in Umag. Paire currently finds himself in the Bastad final, as he is set to battle Robredo for the title on Sunday.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Hamburg tennis, Rafael Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

July 25, 2015 at 10:43 am

-@Dimonator REPORTS THAT @RafaelNadal BACK ON #CLAY IN #HAMBURG AS PART OF SPANISH-HEAVY FIELD- http://t.co/BaB99kff1K #tennis #RAFA #Nadal
Vamos_feli says:

July 25, 2015 at 10:44 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator REPORTS THAT @RafaelNadal BACK ON #CLAY IN #HAMBURG AS PART OF SPANISH-HEAVY FIELD- http://t.co/BaB99kff1K #t…