Starting on December 7—the 25th day left in 2010—TENNIS.com will countdown from the year-end No. 25 on both tours with "The Last Word," a look back at the year that was and a look ahead at the season to come. Here's who we've looked at so far.
Best of 2010
He completed the Confusion Double, winning at Gstaad and Bastad (his only two titles of the year). We’ll go with the latter, where he beat Robin Soderling on his home turf for the title.
Worst of 2010
Then ranked No. 18, Almagro had a first-round bye in Hamburg but failed in his next match—on the surface he likes best, clay—against No. 59 Dennis Istomin.
Year in Review
Almagro started the season auspiciously, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He lost a heartbreaker at that stage to former Oz finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. As expected, he found his groove during the European clay-court swing, and it took Rafael Nadal, the eventual champ, to stop his run at Roland Garros (in the quarterfinals). Almagro didn’t do much on grass, but soon after won Bastad and Gstaad, then declared his goal in blunt terms—get into the Top 10 and stay there (he got a sniff of the position in 2008, when he hit his career-high ranking of no. 11). He was solid on hard courts but couldn’t build on his momentum, spending much of the second half of the season protecting his ranking.
See for Yourself
You can see Almagro’s big, roundhouse swings that are so effective on clay—and such a liability on faster surfaces—here:
The Last Word
Almagro is a blooded, cradle-to-grave clay-courter. It’s been said that if he were two inches taller and a few steps quicker, he’d be another Nadal. While that may be stretching it, there’s no doubt that the Spaniard could be a suitable role model for aspiring dirtballers. Those big cuts he takes will always hurt him on faster surfaces, so reaching his goal of being a consistent Top 10 player demands that he maximize his opportunities on clay. But with so many fine slow-court players around today, he has his work cut out.
—Peter Bodo