Rafael Nadal demolished Rogerio Dutra da Silva, while Andy Murray got to the 1/8 finals without playing a single minute as his opponent – Bernard Tomic walkover due to injury. It is going to be a definitely interesting weekend as many good players remain on the tour in ATP Barcelona, while in the other ATP competition in Budapest - we can see such a great talents like Martin Klizan and Lucas Pouille.
Actually, these two players are expected to reach the final but let's leave aside the tournament in Hungary and concentrate mainly on Barcelona. Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly pointed as favorite number 1, though he is seeded as number two, because Andy Murray is participating in this tournament. But after the win in Monte Carlo, Rafael Nadal turned into a favorite for each clay tournament and not only. He is playing fantastic tennis and after the poor shape of Djokovic and Murray, he can get higher and higher and chase for the number one place at the end of the year.
There is no doubt to write that our favorite here is also Rafael Nadal, but there is one interesting fact – the central court in Barcelona was renamed to "Rafael Nadal". This is happening for the first time in the history of the modern tennis and this will motivate even more the Spaniard to win the title here and thank all the fans and supporters. Andy Murray has a court here as well, but it is on the ground of the Sanchez Academy and he will try to fight for his name as well. It is going to be a long and difficult week for both, because they have to defend their names and honor.
Dominic Thiem and David Goffin are playing on this tournament in Spain as well and they are also a serious contenders for the title. David Goffin looks amazing and very sharp at the moment. We are on the opinion that this players grew a lot in the past few years and now he can be pointed for a hidden favorite for any of the tournaments from now. He showed that he can beat the big players (he did it last week in Monte Carlo, winning against Novak Djokovic). He was close of beating Nadal as well. Goffin is definitely a good player and he should not be underrated anymore.
Another interesting game between two young and very talented, ambitious players are Alexander Zverev – Hyeon Chung. We expect the German to take this game but yesterday, Chung eliminated the other German here in straight sets – Philipp Kohlschreiber. It is going to be a long and interesting week. Despite the constant rain in Barcelona, we believe that we are going to see interesting and dramatic games and possibly a title for Nadal. We are still in the beginning of this epic show, so do not miss it.
