ATP - Munich Wednesday Preview

Mikhail Youzhny vs Philipp Petzschner

Mikhail Youzhny is expected to make a big impression this week in the BMW Open, after three superb weeks here in previous seasons. The Russian was a two-time runner-up heading into last year’s event, which he won by beating Marin Cilic in the final. Youzhny remains on course for another lengthy run after his first round victory over Matthias Bachinger. He will now face another German, Philipp Petzschner, in the second round.

Petzschner got his campaign off to a flying start, beating Ivan Dodig of Croatia in straight sets (6-1, 6-4). He’s been in reasonably good form this season, and should be spurred on by the backing of the crowd here in Munich. The world No. 76 has a fairly inconsistent first serve at the moment, but on a good day it can be a real weapon. He’s managed to fire home 141 aces in just eighteen matches this year.

Youzhny currently has a 2-0 head to head record agaist Petzschner, though both of the matches between the pairing were close contests. Youzhny’s last win against Petzschner occurred last season in the semi-finals of this event. Petzschner will be eager to get his revenge, though Youzhny seems likely to have the edge on Wednesday.

Florian Mayer vs Teymuraz Gabashvili 

Florian Mayer finally got a long-awaited win here at the BMW Open, following three first round exits in previous years. Having waited so long for a victory, it was perhaps fitting that he got past Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis with ease.

His 6-1, 6-2 success stands him in good stead for the rest of the week, and he might even become a major contender for the title if he can pull through on Wednesday against Teymuraz Gabashvili.

Gabashvili enters this tournament as the world No. 79. The Russian hasn’t been particularly impressive this year, but had enough about him to work his way past Rainer Schuettler in round one (3-6, 6-4, 6-3). His service game has been disappointing this season, and he’s made 56 double faults in fifteen matches. If he can steer clear of the service jitters, perhaps he’ll be able to upset the No. 5 seed.

Whilst the majority of the pundits are tipping Mayer to win this one, Gabashvili actually has a 2-0 head to head record against the German. Both of Gabashvili’s victories against Mayer occurred in 2008, one of which was on a clay court. This looks set to be an intriguing clash, though Mayer has a home crowd behind him, and this should give him the edge.

Sergiy Stakhovsky vs Potito Starace 

Sergiy Stakhovsky got off to a winning start on his BMW Open debut this week, as his first round opponent Denis Istomin retired in the first set. Stakhovsky had been leading 5-1, but will still perhaps be pleased that the victory was wrapped up so quickly, given that Istomin is a dangerous player on his day. The sixth seed will now meet Potito Starace of Italy in round two.

Whilst Starace is unseeded this week, he is only four places behind Stakhovsky in the South African Airways ATP World Rankings. Starace began here in Munich by overturning a one set deficit to beat Jan Hajek 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. Starace is a capable clay court player, and could prove to be a serious threat to Stakhovsky’s chances when the players meet on Wednesday.

Starace and Stakhovsky have only met once in ATP World Tour competition. This match took place on the clay courts of Umag last season, where Starace produced a sublime third set performance to claim a 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-0 win. Stakhovsky will be out to avenge this defeat, though it looks like he’ll have to work hard. This could be one of the most entertaining second round matches in the draw.

Baghdatis Marcos vs. Dimitrov Grigor

It was a tough first set but overall the Cypriot resisted well in long rallies while his serve also worked well losing only 3 points on first serve. He controlled the second set too but he lost his way being broke once, his serve started to be shaky. He fired overall 12 aces with no double faults, his serve worked well but only partial.

Marcos boasts a good record at the BMW Open, having reached the semi-finals on two previous occasions, in 2007 and 2010. This record will give Marcos a boost of morale ahead of his meetings with Dimitrov who looked solid against Beck in first round wining a lot of free points behind the serve, won 84% points on first serve. This will be the key of the match, the serve, Baghdatis still doesn’t serve a high percentage while Dimitrov will earn more free points. The Cypriot has overall the upper hand from the baseline as he stays better in long rallies but the surface is on faster side and the Bulgarian can punish any short balls, Baghdatis needs to play with long balls but in long three sets Dimitrov serves more consistently and has the upper hand and we back Dimitrov to advance further.