Madrid early exit bitter for Almagro

World number nine Nicolás Almagro, contesting a first Masters Series tournament since his instalment in the top 10 of the ATP ranking, fell victim to the vagaries of the draw computer in the first round of the Madrid Open when he faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday. The Frenchman from Le Mans, in the top 10 himself less than a year ago, raced through the encounter in a little over an hour to defeat Almagro, a semifinalist in the Spanish capital last year, 6-1, 6-3.

Currently ranked 22 after a trough in form, the former world number six has lost none of his numbers on court. Tsonga won 87 percent of points on his first serve and used his ripping forehand to good effect to limit Almagro to a miserly 10 points in total on return while converting four of seven break opportunities.

"My opponent played well from the start and I played really badly," said Almagro. It's a big blow to lose like this. I was very excited to be playing at home."

Equally at home in Madrid, or on any clay court in the world during the course of his illustrious career, Juan Carlos Ferrero fell short against Thiemo de Bakker despite taking the first set. The former world number one hinted after the match that retirement was thelogical next step. "You feel so different than how you used to that it's hard to take," Ferrero said. De Bakker will play Guillermo García-López in round two after the Spaniard scored a surprise win over 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka.

Ferrero won the Madrid title on a hard court in 2003, the same year he claimed the French Open crown and added clay titles in Monte Carlo and Valencia. On the back of these successes, Ferrero spent two months in the ATP number-one ranking spot that same year.

It seemed the Onteniente-born player's star had faded irrevocably in 2009, when he dropped from the top 100 for the first time in a decade. However, a resurgence at the end of that season saw Ferrero in a year-end position of 23 and he followed that up with victories on clay during the Latin American swing in Buenos Aires and Costa do Sauípe, during which he also reached the final at Acapulco.

By March, 2010 Ferrero was back to 14th in the world. Just before the US Open, he won the Umag title, dropping just one set. At the final Grand Slam of the season, Ferrero reached the third round. Then a wrist injury, through which Ferrero had been playing by means of injections, and a left knee problem forced him under the knife.

He was expected to recover in two months. It was closer to seven before the former world number one, now ranked 73, was fit enough to return to the court.

"These have been very, very, very hard months, to say the least," said his coach, Antonio Cascales. "Everything started with a bad diagnosis. It was a vicious circle. As he couldn't build muscle, the knee became loose; as he was in pain, he couldn't gain muscle to hold it in place."

"You see yourself so differently compared to how you were before, it's difficult to digest," said Ferrero. "It's a nasty situation. I hope to get better, but it's difficult to carry on like this. If the pain continues throughout the year, at the Valencia tournament [in October], I'll retire."