ATP Queen’s – Men’s Thursday Preview

Fernando Verdasco vs. David Nalbandian

Spaniard Fernando Verdasco started in a positive manner the grass season overcoming a difficult task in Mahut in first round in Queens. He showed some consistency from the back of the court but also Mahut wasn’t at his best with his serve let him down and carrying some injury, Verdasco lost his serve once but bounced back strongly.

Nalbandian has two matches here, he beat Marchenko and Bozoljac in straight sets but benefit by some downs on Serbian serve who catch a poor serving day. H2h is 2-0 for the Spaniard with a meeting on grass a few years back and overall the conditions suits better to Verdasco.

The surface isn’t that fast and scattered showers are expected today which will make the balls heavier favoring his solid baseline display. The Argentine is still in search of his form while Verdasco still needs a solid win to boost his confidence, he has the game to take this one but this year failed mainly in confidence compartment, the odds on him looks good.

Kevin Anderson vs. Andy Roddick

Roddick recorded a seventh successive victory over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to reach the last 16.

"I felt great on the grass today. This is one of my favourite tournaments in the world, and I'm just so happy to be back here in London", said Roddick. The match was dominate by serve but the American impressed with his willing and hungry for win throwing to all balls and overall was the better player.

Anderson also has a powerful serve, he fired 20 aces with only 3 double faults in two matches so far but he isn’t on his best surface, Roddick has the upper hand on serve and retrieving while with his slice will bother Anderson who will need to bend his knee to hit well, the American showed a lot of desire in his game and has the upper hand in tie-breaks.

Michael Llodra vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dropped just one game in sailing through his first match at the Aegon Championships in London. He started very aggressive and retrieving well and with a lot of power and demoralized the German who didn’t coped with the Frenchman who served well during the match. Llodra also showed a good form in London and is yet to lose his serve in two matches here, he beat Pospisil and Benneteau wining a lot of points behind the serve.

They know each other game well and the one who will serve consistent during the match will have the upper hand, Tsonga looked sharp and he already played with a left handed player, he has the better retrieving skills and with his powerful forehand will direct a lot of balls on Llodra’s backhand which is prone to errors, the match will be dictate by serve but in a day where rain is expected and conditions will be slower and the balls harder.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. Andy Murray

Murray has made a winning start to his grass court season after beating Xavier Malisse but was a contested match.

"I felt I moved pretty well today considering it was my first match and it's good to get through", said Murray but the Britt made some scratch at some balls and still doesn’t look fit enough, the courts might be slippery today due to rain and he still is under injury prone with his ankle.

But neither Tipsarevic impressed so far, the Serb struggled against Russell and he needed two tie-breaks to advance further. The two have met six times previously with both players having won three matches apiece and their only grass court meeting came at Queen's in 2006 when the Serbian won in three sets.

"I lost to him here a few years ago and he's a good grass court player, a tricky opponent. I have to play better than today if I want to win that one", said Murray about his opponent.

The match stays on Murray’s racquet but still his level of fitness worries us.

Rafael Nadal vs. Radek Stepanek          

Rafael Nadal has eased into the third round at the AEGON Championships after a two sets defeat of Australian qualifier Matthew Ebden. He made a perfect start in each set breaking in the first game and hold his serve until the end.

He will now face Stepanek who had a much difficult task against Ljubicic overcoming the 15 aces from Croatian racquet. The Czech was off in first set losing him easily but bounced back to win the remaining sets.

The conditions suits well to Nadal, heavier balls and slow conditions while the Czech didn’t showed a solid form for a while, the Czech has a solid serve to keep close but failed to impress.

Marin Cilic vs. Thomaz Bellucci

In a match interrupted by rain was Cilic who looked more consistently to advance further. But wasn’t an easy match, the Croat played better on Clement’s serve then his own serve and was five breaks in the first set.

He showed only partially a solid game but he will face a player who stayed more then four hours on court and isn’t on his best surface. After a solid start the Brazilian started to miss more on first serve and was the experience who helped him to advance further.

Cilic still isn’t sharp enough but he should have the better level of fitness and the better grass game to advance further.

James Ward vs. Sam Querrey

James Ward managed to surprise Wawrinka on his first match on grass of the season. He began the match much brighter against his seeded opponent, winning 20 out of 20 points on his serve before securing the set in the tie-break.

The Britt ontinued to control the match at the start of the second set with an early break and held his nerves to serve out for match without losing his serve. He will meet the defending champion Querrey who even that doesn’t look too sharp on court he has the serve and power in his ground strokes to trouble Ward.

The American fired down 25 aces so far and won more then 83% points on serve, the Britt surprised the Swiss as he was on his first match and even that he will have another serving day Querrey has the upper hand in tie-breaks.