ATP Stuttgart – Men’s Thursday Preview
Argentine Federico Del Bonis upset local Florian Mayer in their first round match, the German was affect after Davis Cup coming with low morale but also with physical problems.Still a solid win by the Argentine who controlled the match behind powerful serve winning 89% points behind his serve. Stakhovsky beat Pospisil in two hours and 40 minutes, was a tough match were again the Ukrainian was saved by the serve. Interesting meeting, the Ukrainian isn’t on his favorite surface, he has the serve and the variety on court to be dangerous, he can slice, he can make serve and volley but also remain in some long rallies while Del Bonis is on his favorite surface and has a solid serve of his own, he can play some aggressive tennis and opens up the court well with his left forehand and he isn’t afraid of advancing at the net. The Argentine has a good chance to make quarter-finals here and if he will not have the pressure on his shoulder he has the game to take this one.
Benoit Paire vs. Marcel Granollers
Tricky match as the odds should be tighter. Granollers won against Seppi in a match full of errors but overall the Spaniard showed better resistance from the back of the court and also served better. Paire won against Donskoy who was in great form, he lost the opening set in decider but he started to serve better and on the background of some errors made by the Russian he managed to bounce back playing a solid decider. H2h is 1-1 with Paire wining the match on clay indoors at St.Brieuc while Granollers won indoors in Valencia. Paire has a powerful serve and hit with a lot of power from the back of the court, he can remain solid in long rallies and he isn’t without chances here. The odds are too low on Spaniard.
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe vs. Fabio Fognini
The strange year of the Russian continues managing to lose to Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, who had never previously won a match on the ATP Tour. An upset looked unlikely when Davydenko took the opening set, but Stebe, spurred on by his home crowd, fought back to claim the biggest win of career letting the Russian nervous and without response. Davydenko overall served well but didn’t convert his serves in points while the German did that, was the German who was consistent and precise on court. He will meet Fognini who landed only a poor 38% of first serve in but managed to win against an inexperienced player. The Italian needs to improve his serve as Stebe has good retrieving skills and also showed good consistency, the German should not change the strategy as also Fognini is a tough baseliner but overall the Italian didn’t impress too much.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs. Lukasz Kubot
The Spaniard showed his best tennis wining in two sets and pass over a Stepanek well below his level. The Czech in first set barely made points on his serve while Garcia-Lopez was in demanding form. The second set had same story only that Stepanek made things little bit interesting. He will meet Kubot who needed more then two hours to beat Gimeno-Traver, overall was a little bit lucky as his serve worked in key moments as the Spaniard made a solid match. It will be an interesting meeting as both players likes to dictate with the serve and forehand, Kubot will try to advance more to the net to finish the points quickly but Garcia-Lopez with his powerful ground strokes will keep him more on the baseline from where he will have the upper hand. Garcia-Lopez looked good in first round here and if he will play at the same level he will have the upper hand.
Victor Hanescu vs. Pavol Cervenak
Victor Hanescu of Romania saved two match points before beating top-seeded Gael Monfils in the first round of the Mercedes Cup, the was suspended because of rain while Monfils lead with 4-2 and he kept the lead to win the firs set second day. He had two match points in second set tie-break but the Romanian served much better then in first day and managed to break Monfils serve at the only chance in decider. He will meet Cervenak who has a great chance to advance in quarter-finals, the Slovak is a qualifier here and he showed great determination beating local player Zverev. H2h is 2-0 for Romanian but the most recent win is back in 2007, the odds are too low as Cervenak can alternate as he stay solid on the baseline but also makes serve and volley, can stay solid in long rallies and if his serve will be up he can be dangerous, another match that looks tighter on paper and the odds are too low.
Mikhail Youzhny vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero
Juan Carlos Ferrero returned from an injury layoff to beat German lucky-loser Bastian Knittel. He started well the match playing right and precise but he struggled in the second set losing his serve twice but managed to bounce back. Also his serve not always clicked, he landed only 48% of first serve in. Youzhny instead showed solid form wining in straight sets against another German, Petzschner. He served well and looked good on court making one of his best matches on clay this year. Ferrero can be dangerous as he has the game to take this one, but he served poor against Knittel and the Russian has good retrieving skills, also Youzhny creates good angles on court putting Ferrero on the run and his physical shape still isn’t at his best.
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