I have been hesitant to pick Nicolas Almagro as the player of the month, in previous months, but with a sparkling 23-3 record on clay this year headed into this weeks Roma Masters, my job was made easy this month. Almagro is a stalky 6 foot 180 pound clay court machine. His forehand and backhand are equally as penetrating and he has one of the best kick serves in the business. He already has 2 titles to his name this year as he took home trophies in Brazil and Acapulco to go along with a finals performance in his home town of Valencia. The 23 year old Spaniard is not a house hold name yet, but come French Open time that could very well change. He is certainly in the mix when contenders for the Roland Garros title are discussed.

Almagro turned pro in 2003 and is currently coached by Antonio Gonzalez. The native of Murcia, Spain is also improving on hardcourts. Many fans will remember him for his YouTube clip with his match against Mikhail Youzney from Russia. The third round encounter in Miami proved to be a “hit” with the fans as Youzney upset with himself deep in the third set, decided to whack himself over the head, and subsequently taking a time out because he was bleeding profusely.

Almagro’s full name is Nicolas Almagro Sanchez and his Spanish colleagues call him “Nico”. Not surprisingly his favoriate surface is clay and much like the rest of the Spanish contingent he like to keep track of the Spanish soccer teams. He has 4 career titles all on clay and he is focused on changing that and using is physical presence to achieve some hard and grass court success. A key component for Nicolas to develop into a better fast court player is to work on developing a bigger 1st serve. He is usually very content with hitting a heavy kicker to start the point, put that is not good enough to get it done at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The next month of the season will be key for Almagro to round up as many points as he possibly can. He has three big claycourt tournaments to go, starting with Roma this week and Hamburg and the French Open to follow. Nicolas is headed up the rankings quickly and I see him being between 10-12 by the end of May. Almagro is just another example of a Spanish Armada and their continued desire to produce world class tennis players and champions.

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