Guillermo Coria’s defeat in the first round in Munich was surprising, the way in which he lost wasn’t. Coria racked up another 17 double-faults and German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr was on hand to make use of the Argentinian’s current instability. Plenty of other seeds crashed out in what can only be described as a first round massacre.

2nd seed Mario Ancic lost to German Philipp Kohlschreiber, 4th seed Tommy Haas lost to Croat Ivo Karlovic, 6th seed Paradorn Srichaphan lost to Argentine Juan Monaco, 7th seed Mikhail Youzhny lost to Austrian Jurgen Melzer and last but not least 8th seed Florent Serra lost to Swede Robin Soderling.

Therefore the favourite to win the tournament has become 3rd seed Jarkko Nieminen, who managed to avoid defeat against Romanian veteran Andrei Pavel, by winning 2 tough tie-breaks in his first round match.

First round results Munich:

Denis Gremelmayr (GER,Q) d. Guillermo Coria (ARG,1) 3-6 6-2 6-3
Alexander Peya (AUT,Q) d. Dieter Kindlmann (GER,Q) 6-3 6-4
Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (ESP) d. Tobias Summerer (GER,Q) 6-1 6-2
Olivier Rochus (BEL,5) d. Julia Silva (BRA,LL) 6-2 6-0
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d. Tommy Haas (GER,4) 6-3 7-6(3)
Bjorn Phau (GER) d. Tomas Behrend (GER,LL) 3-2 ret.
Simon Greul (GER,WC) d. Boris Pashanski (SCG) 6-3 6-7(0) 7-6(8)
Jurgen Melzer (AUT) d. Mikhail Youzhny (RUS,7) 6-3 6-4
Juan Monaco (ARG) d. Paradorn Srichaphan (THA,6) 6-4 6-4
Robin Vik (CZE) d. Rainer Schuettler (GER) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-3
Alexander Waske (GER,WC) d. Florian Mayer (GER) 7-6(4) 6-3
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN,3) d. Andrei Pavel (ROM) 7-6(7) 7-6(7)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Florent Serra (FRA,8) 6-7(6) 7-5 6-4
Kristof Vliegen (BEL) d. Janko Tipsarevic (SCG) 5-7 6-2 6-4
Jan Hernych (CZE) d. Andreas Beck (GER,WC) 7-6(3) 4-6 6-4
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) d. Mario Ancic (CRO,2) 7-6(3) 7-6(5)

Second round draw Munich:

Denis Gremelmayr (GER,Q) vs. Alexander Peya (AUT,Q)
Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (ESP) vs. Olivier Rochus (BEL,5)
Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs. Bjorn Phau (GER)
Simon Greul (GER,WC) vs. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)
Juan Monaco (ARG) vs. Robin Vik (CZE)
Alexander Waske (GER,WC) vs. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN,3)
Robin Soderling (SWE) vs. Kristof Vliegen (BEL)
Jan Hernych (CZE) vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)

At 28-years of age Italian Daniele Bracciali finally managed to win the first title of his career. The Italian managed to conquer the claycourts of Casablanca, defeating Chilean favourite Nicolas Massu in the final.

Bracciali also made it first-time lucky, as this was the first ever final that the Italian reached in his career.

Furthermore, Bracciali reached a career-high 51st position in world rankings, making him the Italian number 2, surpassing Andreas Seppi and Davide Sanguinetti.

Surprisingly, Bracciali’s toughest match was by no means the final, which he won 6-1 6-4. Bracciali’s toughest win was in the quarterfinals against 2nd seed Luis Horna, a match that he had to grind out in 3 tough sets: 6-7(12) 6-4 7-6(3).

Bracciali responded after winning his title: “This win will give me a lot of confidence for the future. My serve was very good today, so that was a big bonus. This is probably one of the most beautiful days of my career.”

Quarterfinal results Casablanca:

Nicolas Massu (CHI,1) d. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-3 7-6(3)
Bjorn Phau (GER) d. Jiri Vanek (CZE) 7-5 6-3
Gilles Simon (FRA,8) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL,3) 6-3 3-6 6-4
Daniele Bracciali (ITA,7) d. Luis Horna (PER,2) 6-7(12) 6-4 7-6(3)

Semifinal results Casablanca:

Nicolas Massu (CHI,1) d. Bjorn Phau (GER) 6-2 6-4
Daniele Bracciali (ITA,7) d. Gilles Simon (FRA,8) 6-0 3-1 ret.

Final result Casablanca:

Daniele Bracciali (ITA,7) d. Nicolas Massu (CHI,1) 6-1 6-4

Final doubles result Casablanca:

Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer (AUT,1) d. Michael Kohlmann/Alexander Waske (GER) 6-3 6-4

World number 2 Rafael Nadal continued to show the form that made him such a dominant force on the red clay last year by romping towards the Barcelona-title. Nadal lost only one set on the way to the title and defeated Tommy Robredo in 3 quick sets in the final.

With this title Nadal managed to reclaim the title that he won last year and also keep his 47-match winning streak alive, edging ever closer to Guillermo Vilas’ record of 53 consecutive undefeated matches on the grinded red clay.

Nadal also won his 12th consecutive final and has yet to lose a final in a claycourt tournament.

During this tournament only one player, Fin Jarkko Nieminen, really managed to make the Spaniard sweat, surprisingly winning the first set in their quarterfinal match, but the energetic Spaniard managed to recover and grind out a tough win.

For losing finalist Tommy Robredo it was the 6th final of his career, winning 2 of those finals, with the most important one being in this exact tournament 2 years ago.

The Spaniard now return to the 12th position in world rankings, equalling the highest ranking he ever reached in his career, a ranking that he reached on the 25th of October 2004.

Both players will now take a well-deserved one-week break, to prepare themselves for the Masters tournament in Rome, where Nadal will defend another title.

Final result Barcelona:

Rafael Nadal (ESP,1) d. Tommy Robredo (ESP,6) 6-4 6-4 6-0

Final doubles result Barcelona:

Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor (BAH/CAN,1) d. Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski (POL,8) 6-2 6-7(4) 10-5 (match tie-break)