Montanes should have the slight advantage here because he will be playing in front of his home crowd in madrid. The spanish kid surprised everyone by storm with his wi in portugal last week to see him rise all the way up to world number twenty eight. His opponent today is one palce better than him but by comparing their clay court expertise, Montanes does shade it by just a bit. Spanish players are more accustomed to the dirty surface of clay and they always seem hard to beat on it.  Melzer have only won two palyers within the 30ranked zone and I do not think he can impose himself on the better guys on tour.

Also, Melzer have played in very few tournaments leading to this madrid opener and this might backfire on him as his track record this year is not that good to start off with. And although he have already won his couterpart three times, they were all in the long term past. Overall, Montanes have grown in leaps and bounds this year and will be looking to go far in this tournament whereby home support will spur him forward.

Montanes to win 2-1 @ 4.33 with bet365