Roland Garros - Men's Tuesday Preview

Andy Murray vs. Eric Prodon

Andy Murray will take nothing for granted when he takes on local favourite Eric Prodon in the first round of the French Open.

Prodon, has spent almost his entire career at Futures and Challenger level, with his only win on the main ATP Tour coming against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in Casablanca in 2003.

"He has a lot of experience and plays most of his tennis on clay so he will be dangerous”, said Murray.    

Prodon is enjoying the best period of his career having reached a ranking high of 113 earlier this month, while qualifying victories over Ball, Velotti and Andreas Beck show he is in good shape. The Frenchman, who lives only 10 minutes away from Roland Garros and will be watched by family and friends, is looking forward to testing himself against Murray.

"I've played one or two times on big courts but it's different in Paris because I'm at home. It's one of the biggest matches of my career. I'm happy with my game. I'm playing very solid. I played good players in qualifying and I didn't lose a set. I hope I can continue like this", said Eric.

Prodon can remain solid in long rallies but the match will stay on Murray’s retrieve but we are looking for a contesting match.

Ivan Ljubicic vs. Somdev Devvarman    

Ivan Ljubicic continued his preparation for Roland Garros with an exhibition match in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr against Gilles Simon making a solid match and managing to win in super tie-breaker. He was solid on serve and retrieving, skills which are his main weapons against Devvarman.

The fast conditions will help the Croat on serve, he hit with a lot of power and open up the court well with deep balls forcing the Indian to make a step, two on the baseline. Devvarman isn’t on his best surface, he trained on clay and showed some fighting spirit but he is without weapons, relies only on putting a lot of balls back into play and forcing errors.

 

Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Rainer Schuettler

The Ukrainian took some confidence prior to Roland Garros with a semi-final appearance in Nice. He putted a lot of fight and looked injury free beating three tough players in Volandri, Riba and Ferrer.

The German showed little interest to accommodate with the clay courts and is coming after a final in Cremona Challenger on hard courts and overall his last win on clay came back in 2009.

He doesn’t resist too much from the physical point of view in long rallies, Dolgopolov has the serve to win cheap points and is on his favorite surface, if Dolgopolov will not suffer any letdowns he will easily win in three sets.  

Andreas Haider-Maurer vs. Ryan Sweeting    

After wining the Houston title and reach the quarter-finals in Sarasota Challenger, the American Ryan Sweeting came in Europe to adapt to European clay.

He is 1/2 this year wining only one match in qualifications for Nice against Peya. He isn’t strange of European clay, he qualified for Estoril back in 2009 while last year he lost in three sets to Chela.

The Austrian played good on clay recently even that in Challenger level, he reached at least quarter-finals in all Challengers played on clay wining the title in Caltanissetta. He has wins over solid baseliners like Fognini, Gil, Istomin and came after a good qualification stage in Nice where he beat Haase and lost a tight match to Berlocq.

The Austrian has a powerful serve and forehand which are his main assets, he will move to hit with the forehand to be more aggressive as on backhand wing is more prone to errors, while Sweeting has a better defense and will force long rallies and also will enjoy these fast courts.

The Austrian has a big opportunity to win his first match in Roland Garros but Sweeting is putting a lot of fight on court and will not give free points.

Igor Kunitsyn vs. Florian Mayer

The Russian is coming after he won the title in Cremona losing only one set through the final. But he showed little interest for clay and overall has a poor record in the last years on the surface, 4/15 in the last three years.

Mayer is coming after a good period, quarter-finals in Rome and without losing a match in Dusseldorf beating Troicki, Granollers and Monaco.

The Russians like a more defensive approach relying on his baseline display but he loses to powerful hitters on clay losing to Mahut, Darcis, Gabashvili or Ungur, to name a few, the German is in better form and he easily won against the Russian in the past. 

Andreas Beck vs. Jurgen Melzer

Coming to Roland Garros, the Austrian Jurgen Melzer is under big pressure as he has a lot of points to defend as he reached the semi-finals last year beating Ferrer or Djokovic. Isn’t a good period for him as he struggles with injuries recently, he played recently well but he lost in the last two tournaments in the first round.

He still puts a lot of fight on court when he switches on, like he did against Federer, and coming on Parisian clay might boost his game.

Beck started to play consistently in the last three Challengers reaching at least semi-finals, here is a lucky loser but he might not push too much as he knew that he will enter in the main draw. He played four tie-breaks here and is 2/2, both have similarities on their games with Melzer creating better angles and pushed better from the back of the court. Not an easy match for Melzer who even that he isn’t in his best shape he should start aggressive and finish the match in three sets.    

Arnaud Clement vs. Filippo Volandri

Clement is coming to French Open with a 2/11 record, his wins came at the debut of the year on hard courts. Also he has only two wins here since 2005 and also has five exits in first round in tenth attempts. His last win on clay came last year in Nice and overall has a poor record on clay.

The Italian played well on clay this year but his last success on Parisian clay came back in 2007. Overall Volandri is in better shape and he resist better in long rallies, Clement isn’t on his best and the surface is more demanding and is hard to see him to resist in five sets.

The Frenchman still puts some fight and we expect him to plays some aggressive tennis at the beginning and might win the opening round but look for Volandri to close out the match.

Daniel Gimeno-Traver vs. Robin Haase      

If it wasn’t the recent withdrawal in Nice against Hanescu, once more ankle problem, these were one of the best odds today. He played well in Nice and these fast courts will help him to win a lot of free points behind his solid serve, the key of the match will be his serve as he enters on court to be finish up the points quickly and as long as he will keep the points short he will have the upper hand.

The Spaniard played well in Madrid while in Dusseldorf managed to beat only Kohlschreiber losing to Tipsarevic and Andreev. He is a tough baseliner and if Haase will fail under the serve he will have the upper hand while in a five sets match the ankle might bother once more the Dutchman and we stick with the player who looks more stable.

Santiago Giraldo vs. Pablo Andujar    

In the last three years, Spaniard Pablo Andujar stopped in the second round in Roland Garros, twice as a qualifier while the Columbian last year lost to Nishikori.

Also, the Spaniard is in better form on clay this year wining the title in Casablanca, after that he had some setbacks and is coming after a quarter-final in Nice while Giraldo has a third round in Barcelona.

Both players are big servers but Andujar is capable of an aggressive tennis, he takes the ball earlier, he can change the pace well and can mix up on court putting good drop shots. Giraldo is more defensive as even that he has powerful shots from the back of the court he likes to open up the court prior to a winner. H2h is 2/0 for the Columbian but both wins came on home soil, the Spaniard is in better form.

Nicolas Almagro vs. Lukasz Kubot        

Lukasz Kubot reached some form prior to Roland Garros, he stopped in second round in Rome as a qualifier while here managed to beat Polansky, Silva and Greul to advance to the main draw.

The Spaniard is in better form and is coming here wining the title in Nice, already the third title on clay this year. The Polish player will rely on his serve and will charge the net when he will see an opportunity but Almagro knows what to expect as he leads the head-to-head with 3/0, all meetings last year and one on clay.

Kubot is a little bit fresher then Almagro and knows that the Spaniard can have a set-back and he should start more aggressive but after Almagro would found his rhythm look for him to easily advance in three sets.  

Samuel Querrey vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber

Samuel Querrey is yet to win a match this year on clay, in face he won in Rome but Anderson pulled out after he lost the opening set. Poor form for the American this year on clay and lost in Dusseldorf both his matches even that the meetings were close.

The German is in better form even that he doesn’t excel but in French Open always is a dangerous player especially in early rounds. Both, Querrey and Isner received some tips how to play on court, they need to step up on court and be more aggressive, they have the ground strokes and the serve to be dangerous even on this surface but the play a conservative tennis on clay.

The German can mix up better with his slice and drop shots and can pull the American out of his confort zone, the American has a chance in a tie-break but we stick to the more stable player to take this in three sets.    

Juan Ignacio Chela vs. Tim Smyczek    

Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela came here after a good preparation in Dusseldorf where he won four matches beating Isner or Kohlschreiber without losing a set. He has a good draw as the American is yet to show something on clay even that he plays well on American clay.

Not much to say here, Smyczek’s serve will be negate by the surface and Chela is a solid baseliner to push the American a step, two behind, a zone from where he isn’t comfortable to hit and a lot of errors will come. The Argentine picked the form at the right moment.

Rafael Nadal vs. John Isner

Alongside Querrey, Isner received some tips how to play against Nadal, especially after he lost twice on clay against Djokovic.

First of all he needs to enjoy the match and play pressure free, then he needs to serve big to earn free points against the Spaniard, then he needs to direct a lot of powerful and deep balls on backhand wing of the Spaniard, where he made a lot errors on this wing, and needs to step up on court to be more aggressive. But he has a poor sideways movement and if the point will last longer then Nadal will have the upper hand.

Nadal needs to take these matches quickly in three sets but if they reach a tie-break anything can happen.

Benjamin Becker vs. Robin Soderling

Coming to French Open always is boost of morale for the Swede who beat here Nadal and Federer but lost the final at both of them.

Becker showed little interest to accommodate with the surface and is on his least favorite surface, he came after he played on hard courts in Athens.

The high bounce of the ball in Paris permit to Soderling to set his shots and blast his powerful forehands, cope that with a powerful serve and the Swede has a big advantage. The Swede had a good preparation in Dusseldorf and he could win this match easily in three sets.  

Juan Monaco vs. Fernando Verdasco

Argentine Juan Monaco enter with a 7/2 lead on head-to-head meetings with 5/1 on clay. The Spaniard is in poor form this year even on clay, his best result was a final played in Estoril but had the draw and the luck. He went in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr but lost to Gasquet and is coming here with a low morale. Monaco prepared in Dusseldorf and lost only one match from three, to Florian Mayer.

Both are tough baseliners who take the ball earlier and can create good angles in their shots, both are good retrievers with a plus for Monaco and both are solid on serve.

But the main aspect is that Monaco is coming with a higher morale then the Spaniard who makes a lot of errors on court and who managed to lose even to Lu.

Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs. Lukas Rosol    

Last year the Frenchman won against another powerful hitter, Kevin Anderson. He played consistently on the surface but a left leg injury sidelined him a little bit, but he looked injury free in Nice where he lost in first round.

Rosol managed to be for the first time on the main draw in Paris beating Romboli, Copil and Gicquel. He played well on clay this year, even that at a lower level but also had some luck to achieve that, he won the title in Prague with two retirements.

The Czech has the serve on his side to win free points and hit with a lot of power from the back of the court, even that he is tall is quick around the court and has a good touch at the net.

Overall the Frenchman has mixing results against powerful hitters but he has wins over Kavic, Anderson, Navarro or Kuznetsov, he stays a little bit better from the back of the court but the main assets is the fantastic crowd behind him.

Kevin Anderson vs. Nicolas Mahut

Mahut went to Bordeaux to have some practice prior to Roland Garros, he also played an exhibition match with Tsonga making an attractive match at Masters Guinot Mary Cohr. Neither is licked to clay courts and both rely on their day on serve.

The Frenchman won last year his first match in Roland Garros against Zverev but he will have a difficult task against Anderson.

The South African has the bigger ground strokes and has good passing shots to keep Mahut stick on the baseline. He lost last year against Roger-Vasselin after he was two sets up and this year played more on the surface and has some success. If he will not flatter once more against the pressure and noisy crowd he should take this one.

Dmitry Tursunov vs. Xavier Malisse

The Russian is coming here after only two matches played in Munich on the surface, that in qualifications losing to Farah. He doesn’t spend too much on the surface, his last win came back in 2008.

Malisse played well on the surface and obtained too wins over Garcia-Lopez or Hanescu this year on clay. H2h is 3-1 for Malisse and overall both players expect the grass season which are their best surface. Malisse is favorite because he played well on the surface recently and the slow stuff is more demanding these days for the Russian especially if he will have problems with the serve but neither the Belgian is trustable on the surface.

Michael Russell vs. Gilles Simon    

For this 2011 edition, the Frenchman arrives with a mixed picture on clay where he has not past over three rounds. Also the French Open wasn’t his best tournament, his best results came back in 2009 where he reached the third round.

"People think what they want, I won three tournaments on clay of the Top 10, I do not see why I could not play well on this surface, especially since I'm more of a player from the baseline that loves long rallies", said Simon.

He came after he lost an entertaining match against Ljubicic in an exhibition match, his serve worked well and was good from the back of the court catching a lot of balls of the Croat. Both are linked in a tussle from the back of the court.

Jeremy Chardy vs. Grigor Dimitrov

Chardy didn’t impress this year on his favorite surface but he went in lower level, Challenger, to boost his game and is coming after a quarter-final in Bordeaux where he beat Schwank and Galung.

Also he played in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr and beat Tsonga in two sets looking solid and with a high morale. He likes to play in Paris and has only one exit in first round in four attempts but he reached fourth round as his best results.

Dimitrov will play for the first time and will be a good experience for him, and his best results came a quarter-finals in Munich while he withdrew in Nice against Andujar. Both have a powerful serve but overall Chardy plays a level above in Paris and will be pushed by a noisy crowd.

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