Brasil Open 2013

Sao Paolo hosts an ATP 250 event with some of the best clay court players the world has to offer on show this week. This is an event that traditionally has been won by Spaniards with six of the last eight winners being Spanish. Two time defending champion, Nicolas Almagro, will be looking to win his fourth title here but will face stiff competition from the likes of Juan Monaco and Rafa Nadal. 

        Nadal returned to the tour last week and reached the final in Vina Del Mar before losing to Horacio Zeballos. It was a strong week from Nadal and once he gets back match fit he will be back at the top of the game for sure. His tennis was exceptional last week. I was very impressed with how aggressive he was on his backhand but it was clear he was a bit ring rusty when it came to reading the serve coming at him. I think he will be better this week and it would be a big surprise if he wasn't playing at the weekend. 

       Monaco lost in the first round last week and that was a massive shock. This week he will be out to prove himself again as one of the best clay court players on the tour. I would expect him to be in a semi final but not before facing some tough clay courters in the early rounds. Almagro is definitely the second favourite for this title and it's easy to see why. He is a very strong player and has started the year tremendously. On clay he is a force to be reckoned with and I think he is going to be close to defending his title. 

        There are quite a few strong clay courters who have a chance to shine this week. Horacio Zeballos won his first tour title last week when he beat Nadal but I don't see him as being a constant threat. He played incredible but it's no coincidence he is 73 in the world. He just hit some incredible shots and managed to scrape out a good win but I would be shocked if he could repeat that here this week. Fabio Fognini has had a strong start to the year and I wouldn't be surprised to see him cause a few upsets. David Nalbandian returns to action this week and hopefully he is fit enough to sustain a challenge long enough to make a mark. He still has the game but whether he has the fitness is the question. Thomasz Bellucci is another capable of big results on clay but consistency is a major problem for the Brazilian. 

          7/1 for Nicolas Almagro is the best price this week considering his start to the year and his good performances here in the past. I like him as an each way bet but having seen Nadal last week you have to be impressed and as long as his knees hold up it's hard to look beyond him. At 5/11 he is at a good price to take the title.