ATP Eastbourne – Men’s Tuesday Preview

Alexander Slabinsky vs. Kevin Anderson

Britt Alexander Slabinsky waited two days to enter for the second time in a main draw of an ATP tournament, last time when he played was back in 2008 also on grass.

He saw the opportunity and beat Feaver, Thornly and Matsukevich to advance in the main draw showing good serving form. He has a strong serve and based around the serve as he wins a lot of free points behind that, solid on both wings and good ground strokes.

Anderson lost to Roddick in Queens but he made a solid match losing with a break a piece in each set and is favorite to take this one but with the Britt having already 3 matches here.

Donald Young vs. Daniel Cox

Daniel Cox was supposed to play with Kohlschreiber but the German pulled off after a busy week in Halle. The Britt received a WC invitation for Nottingham and Queens but lost in first round in both, to De Voest and Ward. It will be his first match in Eastbourne but he will have a difficult task in qualifier Young, the American will see this as a good opportunity to grab some points. The Britt has limited experience against left handed players, he is only 1/2 in Challengers and 3/5 in Futures.

Cox seems to favoring all surfaces but overall he is suited better to hard courts and even clay while on grass he will have difficulties to cope with the slice and sharp volleys of the American, Young is favorite to take this one.

Illya Marchenko vs. Federico Gil

Curios option for Portuguese Gil to came here, he usually stops in Wimbledon but he has another stop back in 2008 in Queens where he won against Gimeno-Traver for his first win on grass.

He will meet lucky loser Marchenko who might knew that will enter in the draw as lucky loser, he lost to Kirilov after he beat hard in three sets Ryderstedt and Burton. He is used to play in Eastbourne where the grass isn’t that fast, he reached the quarter-finals last year but his form isn’t that great and even that Gil isn’t without matches on the surface can be a trick player.

Still the Ukrainian played more on the surface and he is used with the conditions.  

Curios option for Stakhovsky to came in Eastbourne having the title in s-Hertogenbosch to defend. He looks as the best player remaining in the field and he has the chance at least to reach the final.

He will not have an easy task against Schuettler who played well recently and is a qualifier here being used with the conditions.

The German played well in Queens too being close to beat Querrey and the surface will give him the advantage of not play a lot of physical tennis and exchanges. Also he leads the head-to-head with 2-0 but both meetings are far.

The Ukrainian has a good grass game with a lot of net approach but the German is a good counter punching and has a lot of experience and will know how to pass the Ukrainian, not an easy match.  

Keu Nishikori vs. Evgeny Kirillov    

With Wimbledon so close the Japanese Kei Nishikori entered in Eastbourne to have more match practice under his belt after he lost to Querrey in first round in Queens, but overall he made a solid match. He has a solid serve and creates good angles in his shots, he has good retrieving skills and plays solid from the back of the court with deep balls.

Kirilov advanced in the main draw after he beat Rice, Kuznetsov and Marchenko but weren’t easy matches as he faced a lot of break points in all. He is a compact baseliner, he can stay solid from the back of the court but he relies mostly on forehand wing and is coped with a solid serve.

The Japanese is the better player and if he will not have some downs he should take this one easily in 2 sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Denis Istomin

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga just played the final in Queens against Murray and lost in three tough sets and next day will play in Eastbourne against dangerous Istomin.

The Uzbekistan player made a poor match against Del Potro and he didn’t managed to move him around while his serve was week and without depth. Also Istomin saw that the Argentine was hurt but he made even more errors.

Tsonga is favorite to take this one but he plays too soon after Queens and still if Istomin will catch a serving day he can be a hard nuts to crack.  

Lleyton Hewitt vs. Olivier Rochus

Hewitt feels that his preparation for Wimbledon lucks consistency and headed to Eastbourne to have more matches under his belt. He will not have the most easier round but the Belgian suffer on consistency, he is yet to win a match since April.

Still the Belgian can be a tricky player, he gave a solid run to Djokovic last year in Wimbledon and also reached the final in Newport after that.

Both likes to win the points on court through their ground game and the player who will have more consistency he will have the upper hand, some long rallies are expected here and still the Aussie isn’t on his best form, the surface is slower and Rochus will have a lot of opportunities on returns and from the baseline.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. James Ward

Britt James Ward is coming after his best performance in his career so far, he reached the semi-finals in Queens last week and will want to show that wasn’t a fluke when he will meet Janko Tipsarevic in first round.

The Serb played in Queens too but he stopped in third round. Ward won against Wawrinka and Querrey, two tough hitters. The Serb is on his favorite surface where behind a powerful serve and his solid ground game can make a better impact but Ward will be hugely supported.

The problem for the Britt is that he isn’t used to play week after week and keep the same high level and despite that he is coming in good form and will be hugely supported.