ATP - Munich Tuesday Preview

Gabashvili Teimuraz (RUS) vs. Schuettler Rainer (GER)
Veteran Rainer Schuettler is again in the main draw in BMW Open in Munich which is most probable for the last time. He isn’t a player used to play on clay and considering his age clay is a more demanding surface, his last win in Munich is back in 2004 while the most recent on the surface is back in 2009 in Stuttgart. He gather some form recently with a quarter-final in Tallahassee but on clay he must resist in long exchanges and his serve will be more negate by the surface. They met in Doha this year and the Russian won in two sets, Gabashvili reached the quarter-finals in Houston and lost to Montanes in Barcelona. The Russian is overall in slight better form, he resist better in long rallies but also can go for his shots playing some aggressive tennis, Schuettler will need to keep his serve and force a tie-break where anything can happen.

Stepanek Radek (CZE) vs. Golubev Andrey (KAZ)
The weather is expected to be sunny and things could be faster which should favor both players. But looks a tricky match as neither is in good form, Golubev has only two wins this year but showed that when he is switched on he can be a tricky player, he beat Berdych in Davis Cup, while Stepanek has a win here and there and is a hard player to read regarding the form and betting.

Golubev will enjoy the fast conditions here, he has a powerful serve to win cheap points and after a long and deep ball he will advance to the net to finish the points quickly, has good retrieving skills and can pass Stepanek at the net, a match between two players out of form.

Bolelli Simone (ITA) vs. Cilic Marin (CRO)
A couple of years back this match was great for an upset but these days hard to see any motivation in Bolelli’s game, he managed to lose against Cipolla in Barcelona after he won easily the first set, he can’t keep a high level of tennis the entire match. The Croatian has a good record in Munich reaching two quarter-finals and last year lost the final to Youzhny, he showed some form recently in Monte Carlo and even that isn’t on the same level as last year he still has decent results this year. The Italian is a good talent and hasn’t any weakness in his arsenal, only mentally stays below the par, he can be a hard nut to crack and maybe playing against a top player will be a enough motivation. We expect to see Bolelli putting some fight in the first set but after he will lose his serve for the first time he will go down and we see Cilic as the likely winner in two sets.

Darcis Steve (BEL) vs. Mayer Florian (GER)
Steve Darcis had a tough qualification stage beating Meffert, Hernych and Gremelmayr to enter into main draw in Munich. He failed to impress, struggling a little bit on court, especially on serve. He needs to serve better when he will play against Mayer, the German is in good form and on this fast track he has the upper hand on serve. But Mayer always under performed in Munich, he is 0/3 and didn’t come here since 2007. The Belgian is in searching of his old for, impressed with his fight on court but he needs to be more precise. Only the poor record of Mayer’s in Munich not let us to be more confident on this one but look for Mayer to advance further.

Haase Robin (NED) vs. Nieminen Jarkko (FIN)
Both players are coming from Barcelona, Nieminen qualified but lost in first round to Berlocq but he played with some pain in the ankle. He stated that is injury free but still is affected on serve motion: “I'm still serving like I would have pain in my knee even though I don't have.” – said the Finn on his blog. Haase reached the second round losing to Monfils, he lead for a set and a half but after he lost the second set he went down on confidence. They know each other well, they practiced in Barcelona and also here in Munich. Overall the Dutchman has the better serve and on this fast track he will win more free points while still the Finn isn’t decisive on serve, Nieminen stays better in long rallies from the back of the court while Haase likes to finish quickly. Interesting meeting but Haase looks in slight better form.

Hajek Jan (CZE) vs. Starace Potito (ITA)
Potito Starace started well the match against Gimeno-Traver in Barcelona but he finished badly as he was forced to retire due to a back problem. They have some history together, the head-to-head is 4-3 for the Italian, all meetings are on clay with the most recent one last year in Rome. The Czech struggles with injuries recently, when he found some form is putting back by health problems. Hajek is a solid baseliner who likes long rallies and a defensive approach but he assumes some chances in ofensive too, he has a quarter-final to defend from last year and he likes the fast conditions here. Also the Italian is a tough baseliner but with Madrid and especially Rome near the corner the Italian might want to rest more his back and will not push too much giving an edge to Hajek, the Czech isn’t in great form.

Reister Julian (GER) vs. Brands Daniel (GER)
A German duel. Brands isn’t a typical clay court player but he can be a dangerous player, he reached the semi-finals once back in 2009 in Munich while last year he lost to Kohlschreiber. He is in poor form but he made a solid match against Granollers in Barcelona. Reister qualified here and is in better form wining Monza Challenger. He had a tough qualification stages bouncing back against Stebe, he served well in all matches here but he saved a lot of break points in all matches. Brands has the edge on serve, on this fast track he will win some free points and also will help him to finish the points quickly. Reister is an all around player with solid serve and powerful forehand, good backhand. He can remain solid in rallies but also he can go for his shots, he is in slight better form but his tough qualifications matches might paid off and in another long and tough match he will be a little bit tired.

Dodig Ivan (CRO) vs. Petzschner Philipp (GER)
The Croatian come in good form after he reached the semi-finals in Barcelona in also some fast conditions. But Petzschner has a lot of points to defend as he made semi-finals last year beating Berdych in his road. The German is used too much with the red dirt but the clay is on fast side and will have the upper hand on serve. Both players relies on serve and finish the points quickly, the German advance more to the net while the Croatian will try to push him way behind the baseline with his powerful ground strokes. The Croatian is coming with a lot of morale after he beat Soderling and Raonic, conditions will suits once more but he might have a letdown after a great week and the German will take the upper hand, Petzschner didn’t impress recently. In tennis everything is about momentum and here Dodig has it.

Davydenko Nikolay (RUS) vs. Kuznetsov Andrey (RUS)
Nikolay Davydenko showed some good form in Barcelona putting a lot of fight on court and was close to beat Almagro in the third round, especially if he had won the opening set. He will try to keep the momentum, usually Munich wasn’t on his stop as he didn’t participate here since 2005 but he needs matches under his belt prior to big tournaments. He will meet for the first time Kuznetsov who qualified with wins over Krawiets, Phau and Fischer. Despite the surface being on fast side he didn’t impress too much on serve but was his ground game that helped him, he showed good consistency from the back of the court but also benefit by some errors of his opponents. Davydenko has the better defense and has good retrieving skills to punish Kuznetsov here.

Brown Dustin (JAM) vs. Wawrinka Stanislas (SUI)
Dustin Brown received a WC for the main draw but is here for the first time and mainly to gather some experience on the surface as he is on his least favorite surface. He has only three wins on clay last year and that came to Muster, Hedayet and Smola, player’s way below him. He hasn’t the easiest round as he will meet Wawrinka in first round, the Swiss will make his debut on European clay, he is here to adapt to the surface. He played well in Latin America reaching a quarter-final and a semi-final in Acapulco and Buenos Aires. Brown will have the edge on serve but is hard to see him to keep close only with the serve.

Kohlschreiber Philipp (GER) vs. Farah Robert (COL)
Munich is a tournament where Kohlschreiber likes to play, he won the title here back in 2007 and he never lost in first round. He looked good in Monte Carlo until he met Federer and will open against a qualifier. Farah putted a lot of fight to be in the main draw here beating Knittel, Tursunov and Luczak. He showed good consistency on serve and on the ground but he faced 30 break opportunities in all matches here and is hard to see him keeping close against the German who varies a lot on court and we see Kohlschreiber as the likely winner in two sets.