If you look at the current draw of the Barcelona Open, which has just finished the third round, you can easily surmise that Nadal, Ferrer and Almagro are the favorites to get the semifinal slots in their sides of the draw.
However, with the withdrawal of Andy Murray and the defeat of Robin Soderling to Ivan Dodig in the second round, one side of the draw is really wide open. The contenders are as follows: Ivan Dodig, who just upset Soderling, Feliciano Lopez, who just upset a seeded player in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Kei Nishikori, who just reached the final in Houston, and Milos Raonic, the highest ranked player left in their side of the draw. Milos though, is still a greenhorn in matches of this level, so I am betting on Nishikori to go all the way to the semis.
Feliciano Lopez has had two three-setters and could be tired, so Nishikori can take advantage of that. Dodig could win over Milos, since he's the more confident player for now, since he won convincingly over Soderling. Between Dodig and Nishikori, I'd go for Nishikori.
Anyhow, no matter how it pans out, all these four guys in contention will meet the cream of the crop of clay courters.
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