2015 was a year to forget for Nicolas Almagro who struggled to find full fitness after overcoming a lengthy foot injury. Having once been a top ten player, and with the capability of beating absolutely anyone, especially on clay, the Spaniard now finds himself at 72 in the world.
Almagro has lost two of the three matches he played this season but he’s back on familiar grounds in Buenos Aires, where he’s reached the semi finals in the past five editions and won the Argentina Open in 2011, as well as having completed his preseason in the Argentine capital. The man from Murcia started his campaign against fellow Spaniard Albert Montañes and showed clear signs of improvement with a straightforward 6-3, 6-3 win in just over an hour.
“I’ve been adapting to Buenos Aires for a while, the climate, the humidity and the courts. I felt pretty comfortable out there today and I hope to improve in the next round”, said Almagro who will face the winner of the duel between Fabio Fognini and Federico Delbonis in the second round.
Santi Giraldo also got his tournament up and running with a comfortable win over Spain’s Iñigo Cervantes. The Colombian took the clash 6-1, 7-5 and awaits the winner of Albert Ramos v Pablo Cuevas in the next round.
Finally, Diego Schwartzman gave the home fans a happy start to the tournament with a characteristic plucky display to dispatch Alexandr Dolgopolov 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The tiny Argentine will square off with the victor out of the match between Paolo Lorenzi and Pablo Andujar.
