ATP Halle – Men’s Wednesday Preview

Leonardo Mayer vs. Lleyton Hewitt        

Argentine Leonardo Mayer takes Federer's place in the draw after the Swiss withdrew with groin needs. The Argentine lost in the last round of qualifications to Stebe in a thrilling match after he won against Sugita and Ghedin.

He isn’t on his best on this surface, his best results and so far the only wins came back in 2009 at Eastbourne where he reached the quarter-finals. Hewitt played also in doubles and was prepared to meet Federer in first round, he expected the grass season and looks motivate for Wimbledon but he needs match practice. Mayer overall counts on serve as he still isn’t the best mover around but with his powerful serve and some touch at the net he can keep close.

Viktor Troicki vs. Igor Andreev

Serbian number 5 seed Viktor Troicki needed just 53 minutes to ease into the second round, blasting past Mischa Zverev. The Serbian simply used his powerful serve, which Zverev struggled to return. Zverev had thrown at the net with every opportunity and once more Troicki simply passed him. Zverev found his game a bit in the second frame creating some opportunities to break but was only a fluke as the Serbian proved too strong on serve. If he will keep the same solid serve he will have the upper hand against tricky Andreev who easily beat Starace in first round.

The Russian was sharp on court and was barely contested but still his opponent wasn’t on his best surface. Troicki needs to keep the points short and finish them from two, three exchanges as in a long battle the Russian has the upper hand. Hard to impose Troicki after the first round, Andreev can steal a set in a tie-break.

 

Jan Hernych vs. Tomas Berdych        

Hard opening round for Tomas Berdych who saved three match points against Bemelmans.

“I always believed in the victory. Today my experience decided the match”, said Berdych.

Was his serve that saved him in tricky moments. H2h is 4-0 for Berdych with two meetings on grass, the most recent one back in 2009. Hernych continued his good run from qualifications to beat Stakhovsky but he saved 19 break opportunities losing his serve once. He also served well during the match but he will meet a more cautious Berdych, and this time around Berdych knows what to expect as he won four times.

Daniel Gimeno-Traver vs. Philipp Petzschner

Philipp Petzschner advanced after a win against lucky loser Meffert, the German was solid in the opening set while the second set was more contested losing his serve once and needed a tie-break to close out in two sets. He served well during the match and we give him some circumstances about his errors as he was on his first match.

He will meet Gimeno-Traver who beat a poor minded Golubev who looked in control of the match for a while. This is the German’s opportunity to advance further that looks deep in the draw.

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