Spanish tennis player Tommy Robredo has been given a wild card entry for this year's ATP Barcelona. Robredo will be making his 16th appearance at the Barcelona Open once the event kicks off from April 24-30. Robredo debuted at the tournament back in 1999, when he reached the round-of-16 stage. Veteran Robredo made it all way in the Barcelona Open 13 years ago in 2004. He was close to winning it all in 2006 as well, but fell short in the final to Rafa Nadal.
Robredo continues his comeback
Former world number five Tommy Robredo had an injury-plagued 2016 tennis season. After a first-round loss in Dubai in February 2016, Robredo didn't play until September and the Genoa Challenger. It resulted in Robredo ending the year at number 358 in the world in the ATP Rankings. Robredo, who had a 2017 season debut in Buenos Aires in February, has been ranked as low as 550 this year.
Robredo will be playing his seventh ATP event of the season next week in Barcelona. Robredo's best result of the season has been the Marrakech quarter-finals, which happened last week in Morocco.
Otherwise, he has had three first-round exits, including this week's exit at the Monte Carlo Masters. However, Robredo's rankings have improved to number 300 in the world.
It won't be easy to have success in Barcelona
The Barcelona Open is set to have a couple of big names in its 2017 player lineup. Nadal, Kei Nishikori, and Dominic Thiem have been confirmed for the event. Spain's Nadal will be looking to win his 10th Barcelona title. Nishikori of Japan has also had success in Barcelona, having won the event in 2014 and 2015 before losing to Nadal in the 2016 final. On the other side, promising Thiem is hoping to have a better campaign in Barcelona this year after coming up short in 2014 and 2015.
Tomas Berdych, David Goffin, and Roberto Bautista-Agut have also been confirmed.
It won't be easy for Tommy Robredo to leave his mark in Barcelona in the 2017 tennis season. The field is set to be a competitive one, with 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal being the frontrunner to land this year's Barcelona title.