ATP Queen’s – Men’s Tuesday Preview

Denis Gremelmayr vs. Michael Russell

German Denis Gremelmayr didn’t found a place for Halle and headed to London. A curios decision to head to grass after he played a lot on clay, he has only a couple of matches on the surface and is yet to win a match.

In fact the last representation on grass was back in 2008. His poor record on grass is based mainly because he lacks a competitive serve for the surface, he doesn’t serve with power or hit with power and relies mostly on placement and consistency from the back of the court. The American has more experience on the surface even that has limited success, he is a quick baseliner with good retrieving skills and if he will not suffer any letdown he should take this one comfortably in 2 sets.

Matthew Ebden vs. Somdev Devvarman

Aussie Matthew Ebden is in a good run recently, he played the quarter-finals in Nottingham and he qualified here with wins over Look, Willis and Conor. But not without emotions and some reports said that Ebden struggled against Conor as he had some flu. Overall he puts a lot of fight on court and doesn’t give free points if his serve doesn’t help him but he faces a tricky opponent who knows how to keep the ball in play and also has good retrieving skills.

Devvarman hasn’t a great record on grass and recently he lost to another Aussie, Matosevic, and overall he tends to lose against powerful hitters who have the power in their game to his through his defense. Tricky match!

 

Xavier Malisse vs. Matthias Bachinger

Belgian Xavier Malisse will start the grass court campaign against Matthias Bachinger. The German, with a kind draw, is coming after he played the final in Nottingham Challenger and that is his most noticeable success on the surface, he is yet to win an ATP match on grass.

Malisse is returning on his favorite surface, he reached the quarter-finals last year in Queens and played the semi-finals in s-Hertogenbosch and was close to beat Querrey in third round. He has the better serve and the better ground game, he also creates good angles in his shots and advance to the net, from time to time he needs some motivations as his game clicks after he lost his serve.

The German has limited experience against volleyers especially on this low bouncing surface.

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Denis Istomin

Juan Martin Del Potro kicks off his grass court campaign against Denis Istomin at Queen's Club, the Argentine isn’t here mainly to accommodate with the surface or to improve his rankings, he has a limited time until US Open where he has a better ranking prior to that.

Grass is his least favorite surface, he is 9/6 over the years with his best run back in 2008 where he made semi-finals in s-Hertogenbosch. Istomin instead has a lot of points to defend and last year was a dangerous player on the surface, he was close to beat Nadal here and pushed Berdych to 5 sets in Wimbledon.

Both players have a big serve and hit with a lot of power from the back of the court but the main problem for the Argentine is his sluggish movement on grass as he can’t count his footsteps. The only problem that we see is Istomin’s poor run recently but neither Del Potro is trustable on this surface.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. Blaz Kavcic          

Tipsarevic returns to one of his favorite surfaces, grass. He played well recently and even that he lost to Federer easily he didn’t made a poor match. On these fast tracks his serve and powerful ground strokes are the main key for him as will give him a lot of free points.

He will meet for the second time this year Kavcic, they met in Delray Beach and the Serb should won in two sets dominating the match.

The Slovenian is yet to win a match on grass and is coming here after he played on clay in Rijeka. He can keep close with his solid serve and might force a tie-break.

Illya Marchenko vs. David Nalbandian

Nalbandian’s latest issue has been a severe virus which has reportedly lead to a dramatic 6kg weight loss.

“I am looking forward to starting my comeback from injury on grass at the AEGON Championships at Queen’s Club. It has been a frustrating time, but my recovery is going well and I expect to be in good shape for the tournament. I enjoy playing on grass, and reaching the Wimbledon final in 2002 was a special moment in my career. I hope to have a successful grass court season this year”, said Nalbandian.

He has a good draw against Machenko who isn’t on his best on this surface and who is in poor form. Nalbandian didn’t played for a while and will need some time to adjust his game.  

Radek Stepanek vs. Go Soeda

Last time when he played in Queens is back in 2007 and the Czech is coming after a Challenger on clay. It’s all about motivation in Stepanek’ side as he has the game suited for grass.

The Japanese played well last year on the surface, he has one match this year as he lost in Nottingham Challenger in first round. He is a defensive player with quick feet on the ground and forces the opponent to play an extra shot but as long as Stepanek will keep his game and his serve, Soeda will be under pressure to make his own serve.

The Czech has a good backhand slice, volleys and a powerful serve to make his life easy on court, he has the game to take this one easily in 2 sets.    

Feliciano Lopez vs. Andy Roddick        

Spain's Feliciano Lopez dispatched Russian Dimitry Tursunov in straight sets to start his 2011 grass court season, lining up a second-round date with four-time winner Andy Roddick at the Queen's club event.

The American was out of French Open 2011, as he was recovering from the shoulder injury. Roddick has arrived in London to prepare for the grass-court season from a couple of days and looks injury free. His last win comes back in March while Lopez played consistently. Still a healthy Roddick will not have difficulties to take this one, he has the better serve during the match and also has good retrieving skills to exploit the second delivery of the Spaniard.

Lopez played well against Tursunov charging the net and all will stay how Roddick will come here.

Adrian Mannarino vs. Ernests Gulbis

Without a competitive serve and motivation on court is hard for the Latvian Ernests Gulbis to boost his game. He isn’t a grass court player and overall he is 4/7 in his career until now on the surface with two wins coming in Queens.

Neither the Frenchman stays better as he has more success in Challenger level. Mannarino is coming after he easily lost to Bohli in Nottingham and his serve not always worked.

Gulbis has the better serve here and that should give him a lot of free points, the Frenchman is a good retriever and is solid from the back of the court but if he will play short he will be easily punished.

The Latvian has the better ground game and generate a lot of power and can exploit the sideways movement which is poor on Frenchman side.

Kevin Anderson vs. Ivo Karlovic        

Croat Ivo Karlovic is happy to leave the clay season and start the grass season, he needs points to improve his rankings. He has reached the quarter-finals in the last three season when he played in Queens and also once was in the final.

He will meet for the first time Anderson who improved well this year. The South African is on his least favorite surface having only 3 wins in his career, but two of them came in Queens where he beat Fognini and Dent.

Both players relying on their serve and few exchanges will be seen here, Karlovic likes more to charge the net to win free points while from the back of the court has the upper hand.

Rainer Schuettler vs. Sam Querrey          

2010 champion Sam Querrey made a winning return to The Queen's Club after securing a straight sets first round victory over Kei Nishikori. Wasn’t an easy match despite he served 10 aces but the Japanese many times had the upper hand on retrieve and also pushed him from the back of the court but lucked the consistency in Nishikori’s game.

He will meet veteran Rainer Schuettler who let only 2 games to Reynolds. They met last year in semi-finals in Queens and the American managed to get through in three competitive sets. Is that what we expect here too, the American still showed luck of rhythm in some moments while Schuettler likes this surface as he isn’t that demanding and also can win a lot of free points, not an easy match for Querrey.

Fernando Verdasco vs. Nicolas Mahut

Shortly the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco starts to improve his game but still something still not clicking. Last year had an awful season on grass managing to lose to Fognini in first round at Wimbledon. He hasn’t the best draw in Queens as Mahut plays well here and is one of his best tournaments.

The Frenchman warmed up with Golding, he didn’t pushed too much and he played as much as he needed to win. Mahut has a powerful serve to win free points and good retrieving skills to trouble Verdasco is he will struggle to found his rhythm on serve, and has good hands at the net being hard to pass him.

Mahut has wins over Cilic, Tipsarevic, Nadal, Isner, Lopez in Queens just to name a few and if the Spaniard will struggle once more on court will have a difficult job.

Stanislas Wawrinka vs. James Ward

British No.2, James Ward has reached the second round of the AEGON Championships after victory on the opening day of the main draw at The Queen's Club, he beat Cox in straight sets. Both started a little bit nervous but overall Ward served better and was the more consistent player.

Looking ahead to his second round match against the Swiss No.2, Ward said: "If I can serve well against Wawrinka in the next round then I will give myself a chance. He is a top class player so I will have to play my best tennis but there's no reason why I can't perform well." The Swiss once more lost to Federer at French Open and looked in good form, last year he lost in first round at Wimbledon but he has a good game for grass and this time he started the preparation earlier.

Ward can be a tricky player is he will catch a serving day and the Swiss will need some time to adjust to the surface, Ward can push the match in a tie-break where anything can happen.

Michael Llodra vs. Julien Benneteau      

A French affair in London. If Lllodra had little difficulties dispatching Pospisil in first round serving well and having little difficulties, his compatriot had more difficulties as he bounced back after he lost the opening set in tie-break. They know each other game well but on a low bouncing and fast surface Llodra has the upper hand, he beat twice Benneteau indoors.

Benneteau beat in first round another serve and volleyer player and knows what to expect but he lost to Lopez last year in Queens and tends to lose against handier players on grass, lost to Tsonga, Florian Mayer, Kohlschreiber or Kiefer on the surface. Still he remains competitive and doesn’t give free points, their encounters were close and anything can happen, Llodra looks more interested in double this year and Benneteau can surprise him.

 

Michael Berrer vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga          

Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga starts the grass court season against Michael Berrer. He came after he lost in third round to Wawrinka at French Open having two sets up. He preferred this year to start earlier the grass season having a quarter-final to defend in Wimbledon.

The German had a lot of problems against Harrison in a match that lasted almost 2 hours and a half, overall the American won with three more points then Berrer but still managed to lose.

Tsonga has the serve on his side and also plays some aggressive tennis charging the net, he is well rested and after some tensioned first games he will cruise through out the match.