Almagro dispatchs Williams in straight sets; advances to final at Clay Court Champs

Nicolas Almagro advanced to his first final of
2013 with his win over Rhyne Williams in Houston.
Photo by Darla tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2013 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (April 13, 2013) Number one seed Nicolas Almagro punched his ticket to the final at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship with a 6-2, 6-1 in over wild card entry Rhyne Williams at historic River Oaks Country Club in Houston.

Almagron wasted little time in dispatching the 22-year old American winning in 56 minutes to secure his spot in the final.

This will be the Spaniards first trip to the finals, having advancing to the semifinals in Buenos Aires and Acapulco this year.

He is currently ranked number 12 in the world.

The 27-year old had an opening round bye and made his Houston debut with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-3 win over Gael Monfils.

He then followed his second round win with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over number seven seed Paolo Lorenzo in the quarter finals.

Wild card entry Rhyne Williams was playing
River Oaks for the first time at the
U.S. Clay Court Championships.
Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

In response to a question in the press conference if he if he played as well as he appeared to play, Almagro stated:

“I think I played better than the first two days. I feel good today and I think he (Williams) was a little bit tired. I tried to be focused at the time and I moved really good on (the) court today and that it is important for me.”

In fact, he totally dominated his young opponent, serving seven aces and scoring 82% on first service points.

In his first final of 2013, Almagro will face the winner of the Juan Monaco vs. John Isner match.

The final will be at 2:00 p.m. with live coverage on the Tennis Channel.