Roland Garros - Men's Monday Preview

Julian Reister vs. Viktor Troicki

After a little bit of slump since Monte Carlo where he reached the quarter-finals, the Serbian Viktor Troicki putted in a solid display in Power Horse World Team Cup in Dusseldorf beating Youzhny and Granollers.

Was impressive on court with his serve and forehand working at high level, he lost only one match against Mayer in first round.

Reister was in good form but an injury stopped him, he qualified for Munich and lost in second round and overall he tends to lose against powerful hitters who have the power to hit through his defense. 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 when he sees an opportunity but he makes a step back against powerful hitters, conditions will suit to both players as both relies on serve and forehand but Troicki looked good in Dusseldorf and if he will not suffer any letdown he will take this one in three sets.  

Daniel Brands vs. Mikhail Kukushkin 

The German Daniel Brands is in poor form for a while, his last win came in March in qualifications for Indian Wells and is yet to win a match on clay this season.

He is yet to win a match in three apparitions here, two as a qualifier, but he gave a real test to Tsonga last year pushing him in three sets and overall has played in some matches in doubles. Kukushkin is for the first time on the main draw in Paris, he is also in poor form despite that he managed to beat Querrey and Lindell in Dusseldorf. Kukushkin is offensive in his game and counts on solid serve and pressing baseline shots, he can stay in long rallies, but he tends to go too much on his shots and that leads to more unforced errors.

The German has the serve on his side and will charge the net to finish up the points quickly but he isn’t without chances in long rallies.

Go Soeda vs. Mikhail Youzhny

With only a couple of matches on clay over the years, and those mostly on American clay which is faster, the Japanese Go Soeda is the best draw for the Russian who struggles recently on the surface having only two wins this year, against Bachinger and Granollers. The match stays on Russian racquet, he was competitive against Kohlschreiber and overall he misses a couple of wins under his belt to boost his confidence but against a player who has no real weapon on the surface and an attackable serve. 

Andrey Golubev vs. Thomaz Belluci      

Aiming to repeat the successful campaign of last year, when it reached the quarter-final, the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci debut at Roland Garros against always tricky, but out of form, Andrey Golubev.

"Every first round generates anxiety for the player, more so in a Grand Slam, but that's natural. I've trained well here in recent days, I am well prepared and ready to face Golubev", said the Brazilian.

He was in good form in Madrid where for a set and a half lead Djokovic and was the better player. Golubev’s poor form and confidence continued in Dusseldorf but from time to time he shows signs of improvements he lead with a set Kohlschreiber, Riba, Monaco or most recently Soderling but something misses in his game to finish up the matches. H2h is 2-0 for the Brazilian but both meetings are few years back, this time the conditions are on fast side and Golubev has a powerful serve to win cheap points. 

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Ivo Karlovic

Juan Martin del Potro looks set to take his place in French Open. Del Potro claimed the Estoril Open on Portuguese clay at the start of the month but the hip problem saw him withdraw before a quarterfinal clash with Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters. But he is confident of playing in the second grand slam of the season in Paris.

Karlovic played well in Houston but he withdrew in Rome with back problem against Cilic. Both players relies on their serve, especially Karlovic as the Argentine is the better player on court with good retrieving and can have the upper hand.

Still, Karlovic can hold his serve until a tie-break and there anything can happen, the match looks a close affair.

Tommy Haas vs. Marsel Ilhan      

Tommy Haas made his latest return to action after a 14-month absence at the Munich clay court tournament. He teamed up with the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek, losing in the doubles to Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley. Now he received a invitation and will play in singles against Ilhan in French Open.

"I always have the ambition. It'll take time to reach the stage where I hope to be, perhaps I'll no longer reach the level that I once had. But I think I can play another two seasons on the tour", said Haas.

The Turkish is a qualy lucky loser, he played qualifications but he withdrew in the last round and entered as a lucky loser. He appeared to be fine against Niland and Matosevic but playing against a local player he didn’t want to push too much.

Hard to know Haas’ form, eve that he is ready for action from physical shape he miss match practice. Ilhan is a good counter punched who doesn’t give cheap points and if Haas will struggle to found his rhythm quickly then Ilhan will have the upper hand. 

Mardy Fish vs. Ricardo Mello 

The two meet for the third time in thier career, second this year after Delray Beach, and they are tied up.

"Fish is a very experienced player, serve hard, but I know I have to go into court and make my game from the start. I prepared well in Brazil, also did good training here since I arrived in Paris and I feel ready to the premiere", said Mello.

This will be the fourth appearance of Mello on the Parisian clay and he never managed a victory. When conditions are on fast side the American has the upper hand even on clay, third round in Rome while last year he lost a tight match to Ljubicic in second round in fifth set.

The Brazilian is much linked on faster surface where his serve is more effective and he can display his attacking game and can stay solid in long rallies and has good angles on forehand wing and will enjoy also this fast conditions but Fish has the upper hand in tie-breaks due to his serve.

Thiemo De Bakker vs. Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic will look to extend his incredible winning streak when he begins his French Open campaign against Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker.

The Serb has an anathema of invincibility, something that had Nadal last year when he won everything on clay, and like against the Spaniard players enters with a low morale and they want not to be baggled.

Well, the Dutchman isn’t that kind of player, he has nothing to lose and if his game will enter he can push the Serb who will want to finish quickly and not stay too much on court.

Albert Ramos Vinolas vs. Javier Marti

Without having the right rankings, the Spaniard Javier Marti had the luck to withdrew a lot of players and entered in qualifications where he beat Martin, Pospisil and Harrison to advance in his first match in a Grand Slam and ATP.

He played well on the surface this year and even that he needs to smooth his game he is a raw talent. He knows well Ramos as lost to him twice and he should enter here with the same attitude from qualifications as he has nothing to lose. He hits with a lot of power and has a solid serve, his backhand is matching the ones of Gasquet and he resist well in long rallies from the back of the court. He isn’t the best retriever and sometimes want’s too much by his shots.

Ramos is also a qualifier beating Luczak, Del Bonis and Knittel and overall has more experience in a match of five sets, Marti should play an aggressive tennis to finish up in three sets, he might steel the opening set. 

Potito Starace vs. Alejandro Falla

Alejandro Falla had a hard qualification rounds, all three went to distance to three sets and in the second match against Rieschick he bounced back when the German was serving for match.

The Columbian has good memories here as last year he pushed Federer in the first set and overall he plays well on Parisian clay. But he will have a hard task against Starace who is in good form on clay this year, the Italian has the better game, he is a pusher who doesn’t give free points and his serve worked well in Rome where he lost to Murray but after a tight match.    

Tomas Berdych vs. Stephane Robert

Tomas Berdych was outplayed by the eventual champion in Nice, Nicolas Almagro. French Open last year was the turning point of his career as after he reached the semi-finals here he played the final in Wimbledon.

Will be curios how Berdych will play when he will have a lot of points to defend, last year was more a challenger as always he struggled when was favorite.

The Frenchman qualified here beating Stadler, Farah and Kuznetsov. His serve not always entered but he was solid on court controlling the match, he is a tough baseliner who doesn’t give free points and who likes to assume risks. But Berdych has good retrieving skills and will pound any second serve of the Frenchman and despite a close first set.

Florent Serra vs. Igor Andreev      

Florent Serra preferred the Challenger level to have some practice prior to Roland Garros, he played in Prague reaching the second round and in Bordeaux where he stopped in quarter-finals.

Coming to Parisian clay might be a boost of morale as the Frenchman plays without motivation for a while and is hard to read any form in his game.

Andreev is on his best surface and in Paris only once, from five times, stopped in second round, he likes here as his top spin forehand makes an impact here, the surface is well receptive to top spin, while also the fast conditions will gave him the upper hand on serve. The Russian even that hasn’t a solid record recently he played well.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. Brian Dabul

The Serbian retired in Serbia Open against Djokovic in semi-finals with leg problem, he played recently in Dusseldorf beating Gimeno-Traver and losing to Kohlschreiber.

He will take on the first round the Argentine Brian Dabul who rarely advance on European clay. Also Dabul isn’t on his best form retiring twice this year with ankle problem.

The Argentine has a solid serve and can remain solid from the back of the court, he doesn’t advance too much to the net but has good hands there when he decides to advance, but his sideways movement is poor sometimes and can be exploited by the Serb who has good angles in his shots and hit with a lot of power.

Michael Llodra vs. Steve Darcis

Only in Madrid, Michael Llodra showed some good tennis on clay reaching the quarter-finals and he will depend a lot by serve.

He failed to show same toughness on serve like last year and the Frenchman said that this year might be the last one played in singles and will concentrate more on doubles. He also played in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr beating Benneteau easily.

Darcis is a qualifier here managing to beat Lisnard, Dutra da Silva and Bogomolov, against the later was an easy task as the American knew that was in the main draw. The Belgian is 4/6 against left hander in ATP and 6/7 in Challenger level, he beat the more defensive types like Gremelmayr twice, Devilder and lost to powerful hitters like Schoorel, Bemelmans, Lopez.

The match will depend how Lldra will serve as Darcis has the game for an upset here, the Frenchman still fails to deliver.  

Tobias Kamke vs. Olivier Rochus

Not an easy match. Rochus lost some momentum and overall his physical form suffered in recent matches. He also hasn’t a solid record here while Kamke made second round last year as a qualifier.

The German is in poor form showing only some glimpses in Rome Challenger. Kamke still can be a hard nut here, he has an aggressive tennis and the fast conditions will help his powerful serve and net game.

Rochus is the player who can mix up more on court but the bounce is high and Kamke will put a lot of balls back into play.

Philipp Petzschner vs. Michael Zverev

Zverev’s form is near at his best and also he struggled with injuries for a while, he has only three wins on clay this year and eight loses, the wins came to Sela, Inigo Cervantes and Guez.

On fast conditions Zverev can be trickier but he is yet to win a match on Parisian clay and his recent matches showed no fight on court.

Petzschner played better on the surface recently having a semi-final in Munich while in Dusseldorf he beat Andreev. Neither is a clay court specialist and overall both relies on powerful serve and attacking tennis at the net while in long rallies from the back of the court overall Zverev has the upper hand, but that when he is in form. Petzschner is favorite due to his recent run but an upset isn’t out of cards.  

Simone Bolelli vs. Frank Dancevic

Dancevic managed a spectacular qualification on his least favorite surface beating Lacko, Schwank and Crivoi in straight sets.

He won a percentage more then 86% points behind first serve firing 21 aces with only four double faults. His serve was the main asset but also his retrieving, especially on second serve, as he cuts off well the angles.

Bolelli lost in the last round against Veic beating Vagnozzi and Donskoy. The Italian is more accustomed to clay and recently showed some interest on tennis, he is the player who can mix up better on court taking out the Canadian from his comfortable zone. The match stays on Italian racquet.  

Bjorn Phau vs. Gael Monfils

Hometown hope Gael Monfils is set to begin his run at Roland Garros, as he squares off against Bjorn Phau.

The Frenchman didn’t pushed too much recently as he said that prior to him is the French Open, he played against Chardy in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr and lost easily in two sets and he is here from a couple of days training and seems that his health problems are over. Phau qualified after a poor period beating Reynolds, Salamanca and Minar.

The German is a quick player around the court but he loses against powerful hitters who have the power to hit through his defense and pushes him way behind the baseline.

Carlos Berlocq vs. Bernard Tomic

The only time Tomic has tasted action at Roland Garros was in 2009 where he easily lost to Kohlschreiber. Tomic showed some encouraging signs on clay at Monte Carlo last month and gained entry to the French Open courtesy of a wildcard.

"The surface is still strange for him. He can hit the ball, but the movement is not there yet”, said his father, the Aussie trained with an Argentine to be more accustomed with the surface.

Berlocq played well on clay recently having the bad luck to lose to top players like Ferrer, Simon, Cilic or Almagro, he has more experience on clay and will see this as a good opportunity to grab some points.

Feliciano Lopez vs. Roger Federer

They met recently in Madrid where Lopez managed to push the Swiss for the first time holding a match point.

Conditions are also on fast side and another tough match is expected, Lopez will need to catch another serving day like in Madrid as if he will miss on serve he will easily fail. But in a match of five sets is hard to see Lopez serving for this match out.

Benoit Paire vs. Victor Hanescu

Romanian Victor Hanescu is coming after the final in Nice where he had a lot of bad luck not to win the title after he was the better player for a set and a half, but like his usually style he flattered.

They met in Nice in first round and the Romanian let only one game but somehow conditions will be different, there are much faster then in Nice and the public will support better then there, also being a Grand Slam the motivation is different.

Paire needs to keep the ball in play more and not let the Romanian to make a step on court, he needs to play with long and deep balls, to paint the lines creating angles as the Romanian isn’t comfortable in hitting from movement. We see a closer match this time, might Hanescu flatter once more when punters least expect.

Denis Gremelmayr vs. Nikolay Davydenko

For Russian Nikolay Davydenko whom he could meet in the third round Rafael Nadal, it will be a good test with left handed German Denis Gremelmayr.

He showed some form in BMW Open but since then lost two matches in first round. Also he lost in first round in AO after he played the final in Doha.

The German work hard to beat Janowicz, Brezac and Romain Jouan. He served well in qualifications as his serve is one of his main set backs, he is a grinder who doesn’t give free points and relies on his defense to win points. The match stays on Davydenko’s racquet.  

Leonardo Mayer vs. Dustin Brown

Last time when he played on Parisian clay, back in 2009, Mayer reached the third round losing in a tight match to Cilic. He qualified here with wins over Fischer, Cabal and Hernych and he looked in good form with his serve and forehand working well.

He awaited the Grand Slam to boost his rankings and overall has a kind draw to reach the same stage as last time. He will meet Brown who ousted Wawrinka in BMW Open but the German is for the first time in main draw in Paris and still isn’t on his favorite surface.

Brown will rely on his serve and he will come to the net even on this slow stuff but overall Mayer played three matches here and looks more reliable, he needs to return well and keep the ball in play.

Thomas Schoorel vs. Maximo Gonzalez

After a great season on clay, even that on Challenger level, the Dutchman reached his best qualifying for French Open with straight sets over Guccione, Nielsen and Aguilar.

It will be for the first time on the main draw in Paris while the Argentine will count on his experience in this meeting. Schoorel served very well in qualifications losing his serve only once against Aguilar, he has a powerful serve to win cheap points and hit with a lot of power from both wings. Gonzalez has a solid record against left handed players, 3/0 in ATP and 20/8 in Challenger level, he is more defensive player but who can push from the back of the court as he can change from defensive to offensive with clean shots.

Schoorel has wins over defensive players beating Volandri, Minar, Recouderc, Galvani just to name a few, he played well and has a good run on the surface but the problem for him is that he plays in ATP level where he plays with some pressure and is yet to win a match and we stick with the more compact player.

Marcos Baghdatis vs. Frederico Gil    

Baghdatis has only two wins on clay, he beat Benneteau who was without rhythm and Falla who beat himself. He isn’t a clay court specialist even that from time to time he reached third or fourth round here.

Recently he has real problems with his serve especially in a match that goes to distance, he lucks power and placement being predictable. He will have a hard task against Gil who is a clay court specialist and he looked in good form and with a lot of motivation, both are tough baseliners and a lot of long rallies are expected but is hard to back the Cypriot in a five sets match struggling on serve.    

The Canadian improved a lot this year, even on clay, and will see this as another opportunity to grab free points and advance in the rankings.

"The body's good, nothing is really bothering me at all, to the mental aspect, it let me refresh a bit and get a little bit more hungry", said Raonic prior to French Open.

He has an affordable first round as the German isn’t a clay court specialist, Berrer became frustrate when Raonic will win a lot of free points behind the serve. Berrer beat only Peya and Devilder this year and is yet to win a match in Paris.

Richard Gasquet vs. Radek Stepanek

The French press see Gasquet as the main hopes for a good run in Roland Garros this year. Gasquet hopes some tactical tweaks, his improved fitness will help him go deep at the French Open this year. He will start his campaign at his home Grand Slam tournament against Radek Stepanek, an opponent he hasn't beaten in two meetings. Gasquet said Friday he is ready to play more attacking tennis on the Roland Garros red clay where he has never advanced past the third round.

"I play better, that's true. Last year I was tired. This time it's OK. I played well in Rome, I could rest for a week and practise, as well", said the Frenchman who beat Verdasco in Guinot Mary Cohr Masters.

Stepanek reached the semi-finals in BMW Open but withdrew with leg injury, the Czech isn’t on his best and overall his motivation is sometimes questionable.

Pablo Cuevas vs. Antonio Veic 

The Croat Antonio Veic impressed in qualifications beating Zeballos, Bagnis and Bolelli. The Croatian showed a consistent game during the qualifications, he is tall with solid serve, he leads the points with his forehand and also finish them with same wing. Is a solid baseliner and some long rallies are expected, he has good retrieving skills especially on second delivery and will enter with a lot of morale.

Cuevas was a little bit short after semi-final in Estoril he has a solid serve of his own and can mix up better on court then Veic who counts more on consistency, the Uruguayan is favorite but they met once back in 2009 and Veic pushed him in three sets, he came after a good qualification stage.    

Alex Bogomolov vs. Marcel Granollers

The American continued his good form showed this year and entered in the main draw as a lucky loser, he lost to Darcis in the last round but he knew that he will enter in the main draw.

He showed some grueling tennis beating Hocevar and De Voest while Granollers lost all his matches in Dusseldorf wining only one set. He looks a little bit without form making a lot of errors on court, he has the game to take this one as he has the better serve and is steadier from the back of the court, also the match will be played in the night session and the surface will be slower but the Spaniard has some lucks in his game and that will be a good opportunity for Bogomolov to steal a set.