Sports star: Nicolas Almagro

Profile:

Country: Spain
Residence: Murcia, Spain
Born: 21 August 1985 (age 26)
Murcia, Spain
Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro: 2003
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $5,553,211

Biography:
Almagro began his year at the 2011 Heineken Open in New Zealand. Seeded 2nd he received a bye into the second round. In his first match he beat Victor Hănescu 6–4, 7–6 to advance to the quarterfinals where he then won against Adrian Mannarino 7–6, 6–7, 6–2 to advance to the semifinals where he was defeated by David Nalbandian 4–6, 2–6.

At the 2011 Australian Open, Almagro was seeded 14th. He defeated Stéphane Robert in the first round 6–4, 6–3, 6–7, 7–5. He then battled through Igor Andreev in the second round 7–5, 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–5 while saving three match points in the process and ralling from a 2–4 deficit in the 5th set. In the third round, he defeated 17th seed Ivan Ljubičić in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–3. In the fourth round he was dismantled by World No.3 and eventual champion Novak Djokovic 3–6, 4–6, 0–6.
Almagro next entered the 2011 Brasil Open, where he had a bye in the first round. He easily cruised to the semifinals and after a slow start, he defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 1–6, 6–2, 6–4 to reach the final. He then won his eighth career title against Alexandr Dolgopolov 6–3, 7–6. His winning streak continued as he snatched his second consecutive title in as many weeks at the 2011 Copa Claro tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina; defeating Juan Ignacio Chela 6–3, 3–6 6–4 in the final. His hot streak stretched even further at the 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco, Mexico—making his 3rd consecutive clay court final after beating Victor Hanescu, Filippo Volandri, Santiago Giraldo and Thomaz Bellucci. He lost, however, to defending champion David Ferrer 6–7, 7–6, 2–6.
Almagro then lost in the third round at both the 2011 BNP Paribas Open (losing to Albert Montanes 6–4, 2–6, 4–6) and at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open (losing to Florian Mayer 1–6, 6–3, 1–6).
At the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, he beat Marcel Granollers 6–3, 6–3 before prevailing in a marathon encounter against Maximo Gonzalez 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 while saving a total of four match points (3 consecutive match points when *0–40 on serve at *4–5 in the 3rd set, and 1 match point in the third set tiebreak at **7–8). He then lost to Jurgen Melzer 1–6, 4–6 in the preceding third round.
Almagro then appeared at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, where he notched a 7–5, 7–6 win over in-form compatriot Pablo Andujar. In the third round, he defeated Nikolay Davydenko 7–6, 6–3 to enter the World's top 10 for the first time in his career. He followed this victory with a solid 6–3, 6–3 victory in the quarterfinals over a resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero who had just come back fresh from a knee injury. In the semifinals, he lost to David Ferrer 3–6 4–6.
He lost at the Madrid Masters to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1–6, 3–6 in the first round before making it to the 3rd round at the Rome Masters and losing 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 to Robin Söderling. Almagro improved at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur where he defeated Victor Hănescu 6–7, 6–3, 6–3. In Hamburg, Almagro lost in the final 4–6, 6–4, 4–6 to Gilles Simon.
As of 2011, Almagro played against J. Benneteau in the first round of U.S. Open. Almagro played a very unusual self with many unforced errors and only managed to break once out of the 13 times when he clearly had the chance to. In the end, it proved that it wasn't the opponent that was too strong for him but himself who had caused soo many mistakes. In the end, he had lost 2–6, 4–6, 2–6 to a unknown ranker.

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