” alt=”” width=”342″ height=”273″ />One reason Nicolas Almagro has been in the top ten is the number of titles he’s won.  The ATP clay circuit can be broken into three parts.  There is the South/Central American swing that is played starting a week or so after the conclusion of the Australian Open and runs until Indian Wells.  Then, there is the European clay court swing with three Masters 1000 tournaments, then three more weeks of play interspersed, and finally, the French Open.  The third clay season is mostly an extension of the second, and is interrupted by Wimbledon and the clay season, and runs for a few weeks until the heart of the hard court season.

Almagro won two of his three titles in this first clay swing last year.  He won Sao Paolo (or Costa de Sauipe, last year) and Buenos Aires and was runner up in Acapulco.  He won Nice, also on clay, and was runner up in Hamburg, also on clay.

Almagro doesn’t perform well in Slams, nor on hard courts, which is strange, given how hard he hits.  It may be due to a poor return of serve.  Who knows?

In any case, Almagro faced Filippo Volandri, an Italian who upset local favorite, Thomaz Bellucci, in the semifinals.  Almagro needed three sets to break through: 63, 46, 64.

Milos Raonic had a breakthrough last year as well.  He made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open and took a set off of David Ferrer.  He followed that up with a win in San Jose over Fernando Verdasco, in a close match.  Raonic would play Verdasco again the following week in the opening round at Memphis, and reach the finals, only to lose to Andy Roddick.

This time, Raonic came in as the third seed.  The San Jose event is not exactly a stellar event.  Isner and Fish opted not to play.  For a player like Raonic, coming back to a tournament that they had good luck at in the past is a good idea.  Many players play up when they are defending champs.  Andy Murray won two consecutive titles at San Jose early in his career, but skipped it once his rank moved up.  Raonic may do the same.

Raonic faced Denis Istomin in the finals, but who he beat en route might be more important.  In the quarterfinals, he beat tall Kevin Anderson who is just a shade shorter than Isner.  In the semifinals, he beat American rival, Ryan Harrison.

Istomin was ranked as high as 39, but his rank has slipped to 61.  He’s had a reasonably solid year, losing in the quarterfinals at Brisbane, and reaching the semis at Sydney (qualifying to get there).  Meanwhile, Raonic was looking for a second title.  His only loss of the year was at the third round of the Australian Open where he lost to never-say-die, Lleyton Hewitt.  Before that, he won the title at Chennai.

With his 76, 62 win over Istomic, Raonic has won two titles this year which should be as many titles as anyone has earned, so far.