ATP Halle – Men’s Thurday preview

Gael Monfils vs. Ivan Dodig

Monfils advanced without challenge in his first apparition in Halle beating in straight sets his compatriot Serra. In just 57 minutes Serra could not challenge Monfils’ impressive game, the Frenchman was solid on serve but also on retrieving, especially the second serve.

It will be the first meeting between them, Dodig beat Riba in a much harder match then expected, and that because his low rate of conversation as he had 7 break opportunities but couldn’t break the Spaniard serve. The Croat was the player who served much consistently and managed to win in two closed tie-breaks.

Both players relies on their serve but Monfils is superior on retrieving and movement on court, Dodig will charge the net with every opportunity but the Frenchman has good passing shots, while from the back of the court he can rally until he blast a winner, if the Frenchman will not suffer some downs in concentration he should win easily in 2 sets.    

Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Alexandr Dolgopolov

Phillip Kohlschreiber defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe to advance further in a much closer encounter. It wasn't an easy match for Kohlschreiber, who twisted his ankle during the seventh game of the first set and called the physical therapist, but was more a cautious call.

"I just wanted to be sure that everything is ok", said the German. Stebe put a lot of fight in the second and surprised Kohlschreiber while in decider was tired and Kohlschreiber imposed. It will be the first meeting with Dolgopolov who escaped through a difficult match against Haase.

The Dutchman was the better player and started very aggressive but the Ukrainian had hold the pressure well and bounced back strongly in second set while in decider was a little bit lucky as Haase slowed down his rhythm when he tripped and slightly injured his left leg. The odds moved a lot on this match and now the German is the underdog in this match. Kohlschreiber has a good record here and after he won the opening round he always reached at least quarter-finals but are some tricky things on court which bother us.

Dolgopolov has more sting on serve and better retrieving skills, also he sliced very well against Haase accentuating well the shots, he changed well the pace going for winners and looked motivate on court.

Also the German twisted his ankle and if he will be pushed hard he might suffer in movement compartment, the Ukrainian looks the favorite of this match.

Yen-Hsun Lu vs. Florian Mayer

Mayer advanced in second round after a tough match against Brown, it was all dictate by serve and Mayer needed to wait until decider to break Brown’s serve, Brown served 20 aces during the match.

He waited patiently and overall made a solid match but didn’t liked his downs in second set when he lost his serve twice. Lu also showed some confidence in his game beating Nieminen, Lu was solid on serve and didn’t faced a break point the entire match. Can be a tricky match as both have tricky ground game and despite that both have a solid serve this comes down to consistency. Lu showed that he can cope with bigger players on this surface, Mayer will try to finish the points quickly but Lu has good retrieving skills and also solid defense, with his deep ground strokes will push Mayer way behind the baseline.

It is a wide open match as both players has the chance to advance futher, Mayer is favorite playing at home but we see a harder match.

Lleyton Hewitt vs. Andreas Seppi

Lleyton Hewitt breezed past Argentine qualifier Leonardo Mayer making a successful comeback from foot surgery, winning his first match in three months. The Aussie is more intent on gaining match practice ahead of Wimbledon then to defend his title and points here.

"After Paris I went to London for a few days to practice on grass", said Hewitt who puts a lot of expectation on this grass season.

The Aussie looked good on court and what is more important injury free. He will have another good match against Seppi who beat an out of form Haas but who pushed him in three sets.

The Italian can be a tricky player but still the Aussie looked solid on court coping with the powerful serve of the Argentine while the Italian hasn’t the same sting on serve while from the back of the court he will have the upper hand.