Barcelona Draw and Preview

(photo from the tournament website)

Today, the draw was pulled for David's next tournament, the "Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, 57 Trofeo Conde de Godó". Winning this prestigious clay-court tournament is considered quite a feat. Not only because of the strong field that this event usually attracts. But also because after the final, the winner is expected to lift the massive Conde de Godó trophy (seen right) over his head.

At this Open 500 tournament, the top 8 players receive byes for the first round. David would've originally been the ninth seed but due to the withdrawals of Monfils and Tsonga, he's now seeded seventh. And once again, he's been drawn in Nadal's half - and this time also in his quarter:

[1] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs BYE
Frederico Gil (POR) vs Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
Christophe Rochus (BEL) vs Nicolas Devilder (FRA)
Jan Hernych (CZE) vs [13] Richard Gasquet (FRA)

[10] Nicolas Almagro (ESP) vs Victor Hanescu (ROU)
Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) vs Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)
[WC] Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) vs Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)
BYE vs [7] David Nalbandian (ARG)

So David's first match will either be against Ferrero (match record 4-3 for David and 2-0 on clay, though at the Copa Telmex this year Ferrero had to retire) or against Kunitsyn (David lost their only match so far, at L.A. on hardcourt, 2007). From the possible opponents in a theoretical third round, Almagro probably stands out as someone who could be dangerous for David. Even if he doesn't seem to be in the same kind of form as he was last year (when he beat David twice on clay, most notably in the Acapulco final). Should David manage to get through rounds two and three, chances are that he'd find himself facing Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal...

And the quarterfinal is as far as David has made it at this tournament in previous years. He reached it twice, in 2004 and 2007. Last year, David's Barcelona campaign ended when he met Wawrinka in the third round (and lost 3-6, 1-6).

Probably the most important thing, however, will be whether David can find a way to stabilize his game and most of all his serve. So that three-set matches with double-digit numbers of breaks don't become some sort of standard.