ATP Halle – Men’s Monday Preview

Jarkko Nieminen vs. Yen-Hsun Lu        

The Gerry Weber Open will be open by Jarkko Nieminen and Yen-Hsun Lu on center court. Lu was in poor form on clay but when he switched the courts he reached the semi-finals in Busan Challenger.

He has a lot of points to defend as he reached the quarter-finals in Wimbledon last year beating Mayer and Roddick in his way. Also Niemienen played well in the past on the surface reaching the semi-finals back in 2007 in Halle and he played well for two sets against Ferrer in French Open. Both have a defensive approach, especially Lu who likes to dictate from the back of the court while the Finn plays a little bit more aggressive advancing more to the net. Lu has a good record against left handed players in Challenger level being 34/14 but a poor one in ATP level where he is 9/13. Not the easiest match around as both will want to start the grass season with a win and a lot will depend by the consistency from the back of the court.

Igor Andreev vs. Potito Starace

Usually the Italian Potito Starace stops in Wimbledon to play on grass where he has only one win from eight matches. The Russian has better record on the surface over the years but his form isn’t trustable these days. Still with his powerful serve and ground strokes he should have the upper hand against a player who stays mostly on the baseline. The Italian loses to solid baseliner on grass and even that he looks a little bit in better form then the Russian he isn’t a trustable player on grass.

Tobias Kamke vs. Julian Reister      

German battle in the centre court. They know each other game well, Kamke leads the head-to-head with 4-1, with two wins on faster courts. Kamke made the 3rd round in Wimbledon last year as a qualifier while Reister second round as a lucky loser and overall little separates them on court.

Reister reminds a little bit with Haas on backhand wing and his main asset is his serve and forehand while Kamke overall has a better ground game with instinct net game and quick around the court. Reister’s backhand will be the key of the match as if the points will last longer he is prone to errors on this wing especially if he is forced to hit him from the run and Kamke should direct a lot of balls on this wing. Also Reister is in poor form for a while but they know each other game well and anything can happen, we back Kamke due to his recent run.

Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. Jan Hernych

31 years old qualifier Jan Hernych secured his ticket to the main draw at the Gerry Weber Open tournament after winning three matches. He is making his fifth appearance here but he still hasn't reached the second round. But he leads the head-to-head against the Ukrainian with 2-0, a meeting being on also a low bouncing surface, indoors.

The Czech won all three matches in three sets beating Lajovic, Sijsling and Delic. He improved his serve from match to match and won a lot of points behind the serve. Stakhovsky has a better grass game, he won the s-Hertogenbosch last year but he will be on his first match on grass and if we took the title has a poor record on the surface and tends to lose the first match of the season on grass. He has a deep and low slice on backhand wing and overall from the back of the court looks the better player but Hernych has three matches here and will enter with some morale.

Pere Riba vs. Ivan Dodig    

The Spaniard leads the head-to-head against Croatian Ivan Dodig with 2-0 but both meetings are on clay. Curios decision of the Spaniard to play here, he has only four matches in his career on grass and managed to beat only Capkovic back in 2009 in qualifications for Wimbledon. Dodig reached the second round in Wimbledon as a qualifier and gave a good run to Querrey, his serve is the main asset as he will win a lot of points behind the serve while Riba hasn’t a reak weapon to trouble Dodig, only the consistency from the back of the court. If Dodig will not enter in some long rallies from the back of the court and will keep his points short will win this one in 2 sets.

Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe

Stebe stands for the first time in the main draw of an ATP tournament. Previously, he failed twice in the qualifying finals, most recently in Munich. His next opponent is Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Impressive fight for Stebe in the last round of qualifications against Leonardo Mayer in a match that lasted almost four hours, the match was also interrupted by rain. Kohlschreiber had difficulties last year with another qualifier, Bemelmans and will be more cautious this time. Stebe has a solid serve, not powerful but well placed and doesn’t give free points, he puts a lot of fight on court and can keep close here.

Robin Haase vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov      

The match of the day in Halle. Dolgopolov reached the semi-finals last year in Eastbourne and gave a solid run to Tsonga in second round being close to win and with his tricky game can be a dangerous player. But also Haase is a tricky player in a given day, he lead last year Nadal in second round with 2-1 on sets but failed to prevail.

Both players relies on their serve and a lot of short points will be seen here, the Ukrainian has more variety in his game putting good drop shots and having a good backhand slice which stays low while Haase likes to charge the net and finish the points with his forehand. Not an easy match but something on Dolgopolov’s game still doesn’t click and he looked a little bit sluggish against Troicki.

The match will be dictating by serve and few opportunities should be seen here, a point here and there will make the difference.