Houston ATP Tournament Preview

With the spring hard court season closed, the ATP World Tour is set to begin a run on clay at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas. Top-ranked American Mardy Fish enters the 28-player draw as the top seed.

Veteran Mardy Fish will be making his debut at the top-ranked American in Houston this week, after reaching the semifinal at the Sony Ericsson Open (lost to Djokovic). With the early departure of defending champion Andy Roddick, Fish surpassed the top 10 regular to reach a career-high World No. 11.

Fish has built a 12-5 season record, by virtue of strong showings in Delray Beach and Miami. The 29-year-old is slated to make his ninth appearance at the tournament, where he was crowned champion in 2006 (def. Melzer).

Fish is located in the same half of the draw as (3) Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, (6) Kei Nishikori and (7) Pablo Cuevas. Other players in the section include: Igor Andreev, Brian Dabul, Somdev Devvarman, Michael Russell, Ricardo Mello and James Blake, who received a wildcard entry into the event.

Following an opening-round bye, Fish is scheduled to play his first round against either Dabul or Albert Ramos of Spain. The nearest seed to the American is Nishikori, who looms as a possible quarterfinal opponent. Further progress through the draw will set a semifinal meeting with Garcia-Lopez.

Sam Querrey tops the bottom half of the draw, seeded alongside (4) John Isner, (5) Benjamin Becker and (8) Grigor Dimitrov. Additional combatants in the 2010 finalist’s half are: Teymuraz Gabashvili, Igor Kunitsyn, Rainer Schuettler, Horacio Zeballos, as well as American wildcards Ryan Sweeting and Ryan Harrison.

Tournament seeds Pablo Cuevas and Grigor Dimitrov will be in first-round action at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship on Monday, set for a meeting with respective opponents Ricardo Mello and Rainer Schuettler.

(7) Pablo Cuevas vs. Ricardo Mello

Seventh seed Pablo Cuevas trails opponent Ricardo Mello 1-5 lifetime, heading into their opening-round clash. The players last met at Tour level in 2010, where the Brazilian recorded a victory in Santiago.

Cuevas enters into the tournament with a 7-7 season record, after scoring an upset victory over defending champion Andy Roddick in Miami. The 25-year-old will be making his second appearance in Houston (round of 32, 2008).

Ricardo Mello looks to rebound, following an early exit to Juan Martin Del Potro in the first round. The 30-year-old veteran, who reached the 2003 quarterfinal, returns to Houston for the first time in six years.

(8) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Rainer Schuettler

Eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov is set to commence his first US Men’s Clay Court Championship with a 1-4 Tour-level record for 2011. The 19-year-old passed through the qualifying rounds in Miami, but fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky in his main-draw opener.

Rainer Schuettler returns to action after a second-round defeat to Gilles Simon at the Sony Ericsson Open. The 34-year-old veteran looks to win his first match in Houston since 2006.