ATP - Houston Day 3 preview

Second round action begins Wednesday at the River Oaks Country Club with four matches on the schedule. Leading off on Stadium is No. 8 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria against Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in a first-time meeting. The 19-year-old Dimitrov, who is the only teenager in the Top 100 South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, is attempting to reach his first career ATP World Tour quarter-final. Gabashvili’s last quarter-final came in New Haven last August.

In the second match, qualifier and  2007 US Clay Court champion Ivo Karlovic attempts to reach his third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season as he takes on Russian Igor Kunitsyn for the first time. The 32-year-old Croat, who has not faced a break point in four matches thus far (three in qualifying), has an 8-9 match record on the season. Kunitsyn is trying to reach his first ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year.

In the third match on, top seeds and three-time US Clay Court champions (2007, ’09-10) Bob and Mike Bryan meet Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Ricardo Mello of Brazil. The Bryans have won 13 matches in a row here since losing in the quarter-finals five years ago. They captured their 10th career Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open. They helped lead the U.S. to a 4-1 first round Davis Cup victory over Chile. In July, the U.S. will host Spain in the quarter-finals in nearby Austin.

In the evening session, wild card Ryan Sweeting and No. 2 seed/last year’s runner-up Sam Querrey square off for the third time (tied 1-1), the second this year. Sweeting won the last encounter in the second round in Delray Beach in February en route to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final. Querrey, who is the No. 3 American (behind No. 11 Fish, No. 14 Roddick), is looking to reach his second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the year. In February, he lost in the quarters to Fish in Memphis.

In the last match, Argentine Horacio Zeballos and No. 4 seed John Isner play each other for the second time. At the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Rome last May, Isner came back from a set down to beat Zeballos 7-5 in the third set. Both players are attempting to advance to their second ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. Zeballos reached the quarters in Santiago in February (l. to Starace) while Isner reached that round in Auckland in January (l. to Nalbandian).