ATP Madrid – Monday Preview

Samuel Querrey vs. Michael Llodra

Sam Querrey starts the European clay court campaign in Madrid against Frenchman Michael Llodra. Last year the American Sam was coming here as a winner in Belgrade and lost in first round, overall his record is 1/2 in Madrid. He is in poor form losing his first match on clay in Houston where his main assets, the serve, didn’t enter through out the match.

Neither Llodra is in sparkling form as he has only one match on clay. Overall a match where both players rely on serve, as from the back of the court neither has some rhythm. In long exchanges, Querrey looks slight favorite, with his powerful shots he can push Llodra a step, two behind the baseline and also if he will direct a lot of balls on backhand wing of the Frenchman will have the upper hand as is prone to errors and has difficulties in controlling the balls. 

Sergey Stakhovsky vs. Montanes Albert

Albert Montanes is yet to win a match in Madrid in four attempts, he didn’t manage that even last year when he was in better form and was coming after he won the title in Estoril, losing to Gulbis. His form is average these days, with a win here and there and overall he doesn’t like the fast clay, he has a better record in tournaments where the clay is more on slow side, Estoril, Bucharest or Monte Carlo last year.

It will be the first time when he will meet Stakhvosky who is also for the first time in Madrid. The Ukrainian has only one win on clay this season and that when Istomin withdrew.

Stakhovsky has a chance as long as he will serve good as in a tussle from the back of the court the Spaniard has the upper hand, the Ukrainian if will play an aggressive tennis will have the upper hand as Montanes doesn’t like to play fast, he likes to have time to set his shots but the Ukrainian is in poor form and is hard to see him serving his way out.

Ivo Karlovic vs. Gael Monfils

Coming after a good run in Houston, the Croatian Ivo Karlovic will start the European clay in Madrid meeting Gael Monfils in first round. The Frenchman is in searching of his form, he showed some consistency lately but he can’t keep up too long the high level and has a quarter-final to defend but his main goal is to be fresh for Roland Garros.

Karlovic is 2/2 in Madrid and he isn’t on his favorite surface but from time to time behind a powerful serving day he can pull some upsets especially if the conditions are a little bit fast.

The Frenchman is a good retriever and can pound some good returns, light rains are expected and the surface will not be that fast negating the powerful serve of the Croatian. 

Juan Ignacio Chela vs. Adrian Mannarino

Benefiting by a good draw, the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino managed to qualify in Madrid beating Ortega-Olmedo and De la Nava in straight sets entering for the first time in the main draw. His serve worked well in both matches and even that he has a solid defense he hasn’t a great record on clay, his last win won on clay in a main draw is back in 2009 in Rome Challenger.

He meets a good player on clay who even that he lost his first matches on European clay he stills remains tricky on this surface. The main reason of the Frenchman having these poor results is his movement on court, especially sideways, and also he doesn’t win too much free points behind the serve like on faster ground. Even that he is a qualifier, Chela looks tougher from the back of the court and the slow courts will help him better. 

Victor Hanescu vs. Xavier Malisse

Romanian Victor Hanescu started to show some form recently, third round in Barcelona and qualified here with wins over Ramos and Copil, later was tougher but he managed to get through. His serve worked well, in qualifications and recently, and even that he had some downs in his game he looks better from match to match.

He will meet Malisse who isn’t at his best on this surface, tough the Belgian can be tricky when the surface is on fast side but here when today light rains are expected the Romanian is favorite.

Hanescu has more sting on serve on this surface and he has the upper hand with his powerful shots from the back of the court. Malisse needs sometimes to be down to up his game but is more prone to errors in long rallies and he will not advance as much as he wants to the net as the Romanian has good passing shots.

Key Nishikori vs. Pere Riba 

They met 2 weeks ago and the Spaniard withdrew with leg injury after he lost the opening set. But this time Riba is in slight better form and has already two matches under his belt, beating Marchenko and Andreev to advance in the main draw and looked injury free. He looked very determinate against Andreev, he didn’t faced a break point and his serve worked well even that he isn’t the best server around. He is a grinder on court who forces the opponent to play an extra shot, he is quick around the court even that he doesn’t advance to the net only when he needs it, he is a player who doesn’t give free points and put a lot of fight on court.

The Japanese has a solid defense and creates good angles from the back of the court and he looks in good form but overall Madrid is a place where qualifier has an advantage as conditions are tricky.

John Isner vs. Mardy Fish

Neither player is a specialist on the red stuff and the difference will be made by serve and consistency. Isner played in Belgrade and lost in first round to Mello showing vulnerable when his serve didn’t entered.

Isner will rely more on serve while Fish looks better from the back of the court as he can remain solid in long rallies. Fish has the opportunity to gather some points on clay as he has only a second round to defend from last year, he leads the head-to-head with 2-0 but both on faster grounds. We expect to see a tough match with both players being up and down but overall Fish looks more consistently while Isner will need to serve big the entire match, something that failed to do that this year.

Marin Cilic vs. Potito Starace

Cilic gather some form in Munich but once more he failed under a low morale in the first set where he was 5-3 and serving for the set just to lose four consecutive games. But slightly he founds his form, third round in Monte-Carlo and his good run in Munich and he just needs to win a couple of tense matches to give him some morale. A match against Starace can be that match as the Italian is in good form and can be a tricky player.

The Croatian is 2/2 in Madrid and the slowness of the surface helps better Starace who will be for the first time in the main draw since Madrid is playing on clay. Cilic has a solid defense but when he is pushed he starts to make errors, he wants to be decisive and the balls goes out and also became a little bit impatient.

Starace has the solid and powerful ground strokes to push Cilic and he serves good recently and overall showed more consistency then the Croat and if he will managed to dictate the rhythm he will be a hard nut as Cilic usually starts slowly the match.

Alejandro Falla vs. Marcos Baghdatis

Beating only Benneteau recently in Munich since February that doesn’t seems to make him a real favorite against Falla who is a qualifier here. After he beat Benneteau the Cypriot failed to win the match against Dimitrov as he permit to the Bulgarian to turn the match. He isn’t on his favorite surface and even that he can resist well in long rallies still makes too many errors and against a tough baseliner who puts a lot of balls back in he became a little bit impatient.

The Columbian advanced easily in the main draw beating Mahut and Del Bonis without losing his serve and wining a lot of points behind the serve. The match will be played in the night session when conditions are slow and the Cypriot has real problems on his serve recently and the slow surface will negate his serve even more.

Falla is a tough competitor from the back of the court and has good retrieving skills to have a good impact on Cypriot’s serve.

Thiemo De Bakker Thiemo vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan

Both players are in searching of their form as both are recently new in the circuit coming back after injury time. Ferrero returned a little bit earlier reaching the quarter-finals in Barcelona while the Dutchman qualifying here.

De Bakker had 2 tough matches to be in the main draw beating Bautista-Agut and Kubot in three sets. His serve worked well as he fired 19 aces and only 3 double faults in both matches and won more then 76% points behind delivery. His serve will be the main asset against Ferrero as still he didn’t played for a while and in a long and another tough match his level of fitness is question mark.

The Spaniard looked good in Barcelona with a lot of desire in his game and he is playing at home now.

Richard Gasquet vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver

Spaniard Gimeno-Traver is slowly back on track. He has two wins on clay this season and he managed to qualify in Madrid with wins over Ilhan and Ramirez-Hidalgo. He looked impressive in both matches, he fired 18 aces with only 2 double faults and even that he lost his serve twice in each set he easily won and wasn’t in trouble to lose, not even a set. He will enter with some morale and recently he put a lot of fight on court, also their recent meeting last year was a close affair of three sets and Gimeno-Traver has nothing to lose entering into this match.

The Frenchman slowed down a little bit but he is 4/2 on clay recently losing to Nadal and Monfils and he has no points to defend here. The Frenchman is the player who can mix up better on court, he opens up the court creating good angle and has a good backhand to punish the Spaniard if he will let the court open.

Gimeno-Traver should play with deep middle balls and not let Gasquet to open the court, he is a grinder who will put a lot of balls back in but also he needs to play more aggressive and finish the point when he sees an opportunity.

Andy Roddick vs. Flavio Cipolla

Andy Roddick is returning to action and he starts the European clay campaign in Madrid. He took some time out of tennis, playing golf more, as he isn’t a clay court specialist and is already thinking of hard court season. He usually plays the big tournaments in clay and from time to time can make some success especially if he catches a good serving day. The match is played in the night session when the temperatures are lower and things are slower on court which will negate the powerful serve of the American and also he needs some adjustments on court until he founds his rhythm. He hasn’t an easy match, nor harder, but Cipolla can be tricky when he is switched on and for a while he plays a good tennis and will enter with some morale beating Gabashvili and Rochus here. He needed to work hard against Olivier who put a lot of fight on court but the Italian was more consistent from the back of the court and more accurate in key moments.

Roddick has the serve on his side to feel comfortable on his game and the match will stay in the ability of the Italian to return well, he has wins over powerful servers like Petzschner, Farah, Carreno-Busta only this year on clay and can force Roddick in some long rallies.  

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