ATP - Munich Thursday Preview

Nickolay Davydenko vs. Julian Reister

Seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko made a safe start to his BMW Open campaign by beating fellow countryman Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 7-6(4) in round one. Davydenko could be a major contender in this week’s competition, though he might have to face last year’s runner-up Marin Cilic if he gets past Julian Reister in round two. Cilic is the third seed and could give the Russian a stern test.

Reister might also be eyeing up the latter stages here. Whilst he’s undoubtedly the underdog against Davydenko, the German will be looking to impress the home crowd here in Munich. Reister earned his place in the second round by beating fellow countryman Daniel Brands earlier in the week. He might just prove to be a threat in this tournament.

This will be the first meeting between Davydenko and Reister in ATP World Tour competition. Davydenko seems likely to prevail, though it will be intriguing to see what Reister brings to the court. There’s a slight chance that the German will manage to cause a shock in front of the home crowd.

Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Denis Gremelmayr

Philipp Kohlschreiber proved once again why he’s a force to be reckoned with in Munich by crusing past Robert Farah in the first round of the BMW Open. Farah has struggled at ATP World Tour level, but Kohlschreiber’s efficient 6-3, 6-1 win was impressive nonetheless. The eighth seed will now face the challenge of fellow countryman Denis Gremelmayr in round two.

Gremelmayr upset the odds to beat Robin Haase in round one (6-4, 4-6, 6-4). He now has a chance to break into the top hundred, and may find extra motivation from the prospect of this. He certainly seemed to be determined in round one, though this time around he won’t benefit from any home bias from the spectators.
You have to go back to 2008 to see the most recent and only previous matchup between Kohlschreiber and Gremelmayr. Kohlschreiber won this hard court meeting in Basle in straight sets (6-4, 7-6(5)), and might have a psychological advantage going into Thursday’s matchup. Gremelmayr will be fired up for this match, though Kohlschreiber should have the edge.

Marin Cilic vs. Horacio Zeballos

Third seed Marin Cilic will take on Horacio Zeballos in round two of the BMW Open.
Marin Cilic started his BMW Open campaign by beating italian Simone Bolelli, in what proved to be a close fought contest (7-5, 7-6(4)). Whilst the Croat had been expected to earn a comfortable victory, he will perhaps be grateful simply to have gotten the match finished in straight sets. As last year’s runner-up, Cilic will be aiming to challenge for this week’s title, and he’ll have a second opportunity to outline his credentials when he meets Horacio Zeballos on Thursday in round two.
Zeballos produced a good display to get past Robert Kendrick in round one (6-4, 6-4). Even so, the odds appear to be stacked against the Argentine here. Zeballos entered this competition as the world No. 113, and a win against Cilic would certainly be something of a surprise. Zeballos has played fairly well in his ATP World Tour outings this season, but he’ll need to raise his game to beat Cilic.
Cilic and Zeballos have never previously met in ATP World Tour competition. It’s hard to see past Cilic, a five-time ATP title winner, winning this matchup. Zeballos won’t make it easy though, and it would be wrong to dismiss his chances entirely.

 Stepanek Radek vs. Brown Dustin

Wildcard Dustin Brown stunned second seed Stanislas Wawrinka, Brown was only 1/7 prior to that match this season. Brown surprised the Swiss from the beginning of the match and even that Wawrinka regrouped he still wasn’t up on his game, on his own serve he struggled a lot as a lot of games went tight while Brown served much better during the match, he fired 10 with 2 double faults and won 80% points behind first serve.

The weather today shows light rains with high humidity which should slow down things on court and Brown will not have same advantage on court. Also, Stepanek beat Golubev in first round who has more option from the back of the court then Brown who likes to charge the net and came even unprepared at the net.

Stepanek likes to play with this type of players, he has good passing shots and if Brown will fail on serve he will be under pressure.

Gabashvili Teymuraz vs. Mayer Florian

Fifth-seeded Florian Mayer of Germany eased past qualifier Steve Darcis. Even that he let only three games to Darcis, two of them were breaks, both breaks were in the opening games but after that Mayer controlled the set wining a lot of points behind the serve.

He will meet Gabashvili who leads the head-to-head with 3-1, 2-1 on clay but the most recent meeting is back in 2008. The Russian advanced after two hours of battle against Schuettler in a match that could go either way in some moments, there were 23 break opportunities and only 5 breaks.

The Russian is on Madrid qualifications and despite that he can be a tricky player in a given day he still struggles on court making some errors, Mayer controlled the match against Darcis, he served well and these fast courts suits better to his game.