ATP Rome Monday Preview

Gilles Simon vs. Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick began his clay-court season with a disappointing three-set defeat by Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla at the Madrid Open. He isn’t on his best surface but he looked a little bit sluggish in movement and also without rhythm from the back of the court.

He has some success in Rome because the surface is on fast side, two semi-finals with the most recent one back in 2008 and a quarter-final beating players like.

The Frenchman is overall in better form and lost once more to Murray in Madrid and his record isn’t impressive in Foro Italico. But the key of the match will be the American serve, if Roddick will managed to land a high percentage of first serve in he has the upper hand as he can remain in some exchanges from the back of the court.

The Frenchman has good retrieving skills but his form didn’t impress recently but he has wins over Ljubicic, Bellucci, Montanes on clay recently.

Xavier Malisse vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Last time when the Belgian Xavier Malisse played in Foro Italico was back in 2006 and is only the fourth time when he participates in Rome. He isn’t on his best surface but he reached the third round in Madrid beating Hanescu and Lu.

He likes to play with powerful players on clay, he has wins over Hanescu, Montanes, Greul, Hernych, Ouanna, Isner recently on clay, losing only to Garcia-Lopez but on a much slower track, in Estoril. Also the Spaniard came in good form, reaching the third round in Madrid and last year he surprised Chela and Hewitt in Rome.

Overall the Spaniard has more sting on serve and hit with a lot of power and depth and that will push Malisse way behind the baseline but the Belgian isn’t without chances in long rallies and he has a solid serve of his own and sometimes needs to be push behind to found his best tennis.

 

He is a good counter puncher and uses well opponent’s pace, especially against powerful hitters, and if he will force the Spaniard to play an extra shot then the pressure will be on Spaniard side as he will want to be more aggressive then usually. Malisse isn’t without chances, he has the game to remain close and force a tie-break and there anything can happen while the Spaniard depends too much on serve.

Igor Andreev vs. Pere Riba

They met last week in the last round of qualifications in Madrid and the Spaniard easily won the match. Both advanced to the main draw through qualifications, with the Russian having tougher opponents in Sweeting and Nieminen while the Spaniard beat two left hander in Di Mauro and Ramos.

Last win for the Russian in Rome came back in 2008 and he didn’t showed some interest recently but he put some fight in qualifications and his serve worked well.

He has the better serve, Riba resists well from the back of the court and he will enter with a higher morale and also the Spaniard played consistently recently but the match stays in Andreev’s racquet.    

Victor Hanescu vs. Sergiy Stakhovsky

Romanian Victor Hanescu qualified in Madrid Masters too but he managed to lose to Malisse in first round.

He beat Reister and Mannarino here and in both needed to dig to well to impose and has some points to defend here as last year he reached the third round. The Ukrainian showed some resurrection in his game in Madrid where he reached the third round beating Montanes and Isner in hard three sets but he still isn’t on his top of his game.

Hanescu has a powerful serve and hit with a lot of power on both wings to push the Ukrainian way behind the baseline and forcing him into errors, has good retrieving skills to exploit Stakhovsky’s poor second serve. The surface is on fast side and the Ukrainian will have an advantage too here. 

Pablo Cuevas vs. Lukasz Kubot 

Coming for a set down, the Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas managed to enter into main draw in Rome against Berlocq. He came after a semi-final appearance in Estoril where he played solid tennis.

He will meet Kubot who managed to qualify after he beat Gil and Kavcic but the Polish player is in poor form and with a low morale. They also met in Buenos Aires this year when the Uruguayan was in poorer form but managed to impose in hard three setter. Cuevas served better against Berlocq while Kubot forced too much his serve making 7 double faults and only 2 aces.

Overall Kubot stays mostly on serve, if that will enter he will have a chance as on court Cuevas is the better player who can mix and change the pace well and can punish Kubot in his net rushes.

Mardy Fish vs. Santiago Giraldo 

Without losing his serve in Madrid, the American Mardy Fish managed to lose the match in favor of his compatriot Isner. He was solid behind the serve and only a point here and there stopped him in Madrid.

Even that the surface is on fast side he is only 3/4 over the years. H2h is 2-0 with Fish managing to beat the Columbian last year in Davis Cup in Columbia. Giraldo has more action on clay then his opponent, he reached third round in Barcelona while in Madrid lost in second round to Soderling.

Both players have a powerful serve and hit with a lot of power, Giraldo has a better movement and stays better in long rallies but the American had hold his serve well in Madrid and he should feel more comfortable on this surface which faster and despite that he hasn’t much action on clay.

Gael Monfils vs. Kei Nishikori 

Monfils, who has some kind of allergy to cheese, ate a pre-match meal in which cheese was somehow incorporated and he then, unsurprisingly, did not feel well during the match in Madrid against Monaco and withdrew in the second set. Poor representation of the Frenchman. He didn’t play in Rome since 2007 but he reached the semi-finals back in 2006.

He will meet Nishikori in first round who Maximo Gonzalez and Del Bonis to advance. The Japanese is a tough baseliner with a solid defense display, he can change the pace well and resist well in long rallies but the Frenchman has the better serve and hit with a lot of power to push the Japanese way behind the baseline.

Monfils is favorite to take this one but we are not convinced about his motivation prior to Roland Garros. 

Viktor Troicki vs. Nikolay Davydenko

Since 2007 when he reached the semi-finals the Russian has a poor record in Rome being 1/2 with his last match back in 2009.

He showed some form in Munich where he won the title but he couldn’t adapt to Madrid, where also has a poor record, and lost in first round. Neither Troicki isn’t in better form, he slowed down recently losing in first round in the last two tournaments.

Looks like a match which can go either way, Troicki has the better serve but also that can be his main setback while the Russian is better from the back of the court controlling better the long rallies. The Russian showed some rhythm recently and he has the upper hand but is hard to read well Davydenko’s motivation.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

The Frenchman showed that he found some rhythm on court recently reaching the third round in Madrid, his serve works well but he needs to adjust his shots better especially on backhand wing were he still makes a lot of unforced errors.

Last year he reached the quarter-finals in Rome beating Troicki and Giraldo and has the first option against Baghdatis.

The Frenchman will make his service more easily while the Cypriot will struggle as still he is without rhythm on serve. The Cypriot showed that can remain solid from the back of the court but when his serve doesn’t enter he easily lose. Tsonga looked compact on serve in Madrid.

Potito Starace vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov

Both players had some health problems recently, Dolgopolov is yet to show his best tennis since Miami and lost all his matches on clay while Starace after he lost the final in Casablanca. But the Italian showed some resurrection in Munich where he reached the quarter-finals.

Dolgopolov won this year against the Italian but that when was in better form while this time around it looks that Starace is in slight better form and also is playing at home. The Ukrainian has the game to be tricky, he can vary a lot on court and has a game hard to read resisting well in long rallies but also going for his shots, he has a powerful serve to win cheap points, but he looked without rhythm recently.

Starace has a solid baseline display and overall only once lost in opening round in Rome, back in 2009, he has a better motivation.

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