In mouthwatering clash sixth seed Tomas Berdych today takes on eleventh seed Nicolas Almagro from Spain at Flushing Meadows.

Having reached the finals of the Madrid Masters in May, it seemed as if Berdych was headed to greater things this year. That bubble however burst early in the French Open itself, and the Czech has struggled ever since. Having been eliminated early on at Wimbledon and the Olympics, Berdych would welcome a change in surface.

The former Wimbledon finalist has a lot to prove as he takes stance in Flushing Meadows. What will undoubtedly work in his favour is the fact that other seeds come into the event exhausted after a long summer at the Olympics and Wimbledon. His win-loss record stands 41-16 at this year. Last week at the Winston Salem Open, Berdych squandered two championship points to hand the title to John Isner. The Czech might be a little low on confidence but with his game, Berdych still holds a few good cards.

His opponent today - Nicolas Almagro is like those typical Spaniards, who like to play on red-dirt and his performances over the years – has proved it many times. The twenty six years old has won 12 ATP World Tour titles so far and all these titles have come on clay. The Spaniard has already won two titles this season with Nice and Sao Paulo. Almagro has a very good 49-16 win-loss record for the season so far. Almagro is ranked at 11 in the World, and his work ethic is second to no one.

These two have played one another 9 times previously, and the Czech has been dominant with 6 wins. Their last match on the hard court however was won by the Spaniard in straight sets.

TennisEarth picks a win for the in-form Spaniard in this one.