Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Spanish clay-court specialist Nicolas
Almagro was a hard-fought first-round winner Monday at the $4 million Madrid
Open, an ATP World Tour 1000 Masters event.
The 11th-seeded Almagro, the 2012 match wins leader on clay (17), came from
behind to best Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3 on the
unusual blue clay at The Magic Box.
Promising American Ryan Harrison, a wild card this week, snuck past Ukrainian
qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), while capable Serb Viktor
Troicki held off American Donald Young 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 on Day 2.
The 19-year-old Harrison's second-round opponent will be world No. 5 Jo-
Wilfried Tsonga of France.
Additional Monday wins came for former top-10 Russian Mikhail Youzhny and
Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla.
Novak Djokovic beat Spanish hero and two-time Madrid champ Rafael Nadal in
last year's finale. Djokovic, Nadal and two-time champ Roger Federer are
the top seeds this week.
Nadal holds the record with 20 Masters titles, including one in Monte Carlo
last month.
The 2012 Madrid Open champion will earn $770,000.
The Sports Network