ATP Newport – Men’s Tuesday Preview

Edouard Roger-Vasselin vs. Richard Bloomfield

Richard Bloomfield managed to qualify for the second time in Newport beating Duclos and Ram, last year stopped in semi-finals and has a lot of points to defend. He has some matches on the surface, he qualified for Nottingham Challenger where he lost in first round. He is on a comeback trail but he needs to defend some points here and not slip too much in the rankings.

The Frenchman lost in first round last year here but he came with good preparation making quarter-finals in Nottingham Challenger and qualified for Wimbledon. He has a solid serve and if he has some good retrieving skills he is also discomforted by good retrieving players, he advance a lot to the net, he has a good slice on backhand wing but he didn’t use it too much. He doesn’t like to play with players that put a lot of balls back in while he like to find a target to the net having wins against net rushers like Mahut, Amritraj. Bloomfield has a powerful serve, but he risks too much on it and that results in many double faults, 19 aces and 12 double faults, but he is competitive on court and has a lot of experience on grass. Coming in Newport where he made his best result in ATP and having already two wins here will boost his game, neither has a solid impact on serve and all will come down on court and we stick with the more experienced player.

Igor Kunitsyn vs. Jimmy Wang

Wang emerged as one of Asia's most highly touted junior players a few years back, that until Lu appear. He was bother by injuries and in the last years he played mainly in Futures circuit but he appeared here and managed to qualify benefiting by a kind draw, he won against Valenti, Grigelis and Oullette.

They know each other, head-to-head is 2-0 for Wang with the last meeting back in 2007 when Wang was a qualifier at Wimbledon and beat the Russian in five sets. Isn’t a big server but like Lu he keep well the ball in play and also advance a lot to the net for volleys.

The Russian is an opportunist, he reached the semi-final in Eastbourne benefiting by a kind draw, and lost in second round at Wimbledon, he has a defensive approach until he blast his forehand.

Overall the Russian looks in better form but Wang can snatch the surprise here, he has the game to remain competitive from the back of the court and played good in qualifications.  

Denis Kudla vs. Ivo Karlovic      

Newport marked Kudla’s main draw debut in an ATP World Tour event last year when he had faced Ventura in first round and won in three sets losing to Harrison in second round. American best surface is grass, he is an all around player who goes for his shots, he is a good mover on court and is a shot maker but he needs to be very accurate on volleys as he hasn’t an easy first round.

The match will depend by Karlovic’ serve, if the Croat will be up on his serve then he will have the upper hand, if his serve will not enter then Kudla has the game to surprise the Croat. Still, Karlovic having his serve on his side is hard not to back him but tie-breaks should be seen here.  

Alex Bogdanovic vs. Tobias Kamke

Newport is quite nostalgic for Britt Alex Bogdanovic as back in 2006 he reached the quarter-finals for one of his best results back then. He qualified here wining three matches, he lost his serve twice while in the last match he played better beating Verryth. He won a lot of points behind the serve but his returns aren’t the best. H2h is 1-1 with the most recent meeting between them back in 2008.

The German can be a dangerous player on grass, last year he reached the third round in Wimbledon and usually tends to lose to powerful players on grass like Tsonga, Raonic, Murray and Seppi who was in good form this year. The German is 1/2 against left hander players in ATP and 13/12 in Challenger level, he has overall the better serve and if he will play attacking tennis he will have the upper hand while Bogdanovic has the experience on his side and already played 3 times here but Kamke has a powerful game and we back the German with a low stake. 

Nicolas Mahut vs. Sebastian Decoud

Frenchman Nicolas Mahut looks the dark horse in the field and one of the first contenders for the title, the surface tends to help well the serve and volley players.

Strange option for the Argentine to be here, he has only two matches in his career on grass, he plays mostly on clay and from time to time on hard courts, he came from a Futures in Venezuela on hard courts.

The Frenchman has the serve and the surface on his side, he will win a lot of free points on this fast track while Decoud will try to return and keep the ball in play, hard to see any surprise here.

John Isner vs. Karol Beck

John Isner is the number one seed in Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, but only that as he never excelled on grass. In fact he is 3/7 on the surface with two wins at Wimbledon. Despite his booming serve the American suffer at movement compartment and is his opponent slices a lot he needs to bend his knee to hit well.

Beck is coming after a quarter-final in Nottingham and third round at Wimbledon as a qualifier, losing to Ferrer.

The Slovak has more experience on grass and a lot of wins over powerful hitters like Garcia-Lopez, Muller, Feliciano Lopez, Greul, Monfils or Karlovic. It will be a match dictate by serve while the Slovak looks the better player on court.

Matthew Ebden vs. Ryan Sweeting

Sweeting returns to America after only two wins on European grass, he beat Evans at Newport Challenger and Andujar in first round at Wimbledon.

The American grass is faster then European grass and he tends to lose to powerful players who have the edge on serve while he relies more on his solid baseline display. Ebden stays a little bit better with a quarter-final in Nottingham Challenger and second round as a qualifier in Queens. He also tends to lose to powerful hitters, Dent, Muller, De Schepper, Karol Beck on grass but he beat other tough baseliner like Lacko, Bogomolov, Niland or Devvarman.

The Aussie has the better serve and hit with a lot of power, he has the power on his shots to hit through the American defense and in a battle from the back of the court has the upper hand.

Ryan Harrison vs. Arnaud Clement

The odds dropped a lot on Harrison side and has a quarter-final to defend at Newport. He is coming after a second round lose to Ferrer in five sets at Wimbledon as a lucky loser but the Frenchman is a player with a lot of experience on the surface making a solid match against Cilic at Queens.

Clement is a veteran and tends to struggle against powerful hitter who have the power to hit through his defense but Clement has a solid serve on his own and has good net game to trouble the American here.

Harrison improved a lot this year, he can stay solid from the back of the court and has good touch at the net but the experience is on Clement’ side.

Dudi Sela vs. Michael Yani

Michael Yani managed to qualify at Newport playing for the first time in the main draw after French Open last year. His serve is noticeable and has some good retrieving skills, he is a good baseliner who advances a lot to the net but he hasn’t the patience to remain in long exchanges. He beat Moser and Begemann to advance on his least favorite surface having only one match back at Wimbledon 2009.

Sela won the Nottingham Challenger on grass and made second round at Wimbledon, he is a player with more experience on grass. The match stays on Sela’s racquet, he has a solid defense and Yani isn’t a powerful player to hit through his defense, quick around the court and will force the American to play quick.

Michael Berrer vs. Tommy Haas

Tommy Haas was granted a WC for Newport on his comeback trail. He has only three matches this year with two of them on grass. He says that he feel physical well and trained with Roger Federer at Wimbledon and played at Boodles, a pre-tournament preparation for Wimbledon.

It will be the first meeting between them and even that Berrer has a suitable grass game he hasn’t a solid record, the only mentionable record is his quarter-final at s-Hertogenbosch back in 2007 as a qualifier.

Berrer is a baseliner who also advances to the net, serve and forehand are his best weapons, if his serve will not enter he will be under big pressure. Haas has the game to take this one and showed some solid tennis against Muller, Berrer hasn’t the same power and crisp volleys as the Luxembourg player.