ATP Bastad – Men’s Thursday Preview

Blaz Kavcic vs. Jusn Monaco    

Argentine Juan Monaco survived a bad start to beat compatriot Carlos Berlocq in three hours and 31 minutes of play. A real tussle from both players in a match interrupted by rain, Monaco started sluggish even that started with a break and Belocq played strongly for a two sets but Monaco weak up in time to play a perfect tie-break while in decider Berlocq was exhausted. Kavcic also comes after almost three sets against Benneteau, the Frenchman was the better player for a set and a half, he served for the match but he served poorly and Kavcic bounced back and managed to finish. Both players benefit by some downs in opponents game but they put some fight to bounced back. The Argentine played yesterday and is schedule first match in the day, and rain are expected also today so the player who will found his rhythm better he will take this one, Bavcic can be a dangerous player, he has clean shots from both wings, fast player who covers the court well and can play some aggressive tennis and if he will keep his errors low can take this one.

Pere Riba vs. David Ferrer

David Ferrer comes in Bastad after a good Davis Cup tie against USA wining his matches against Roddick and Fish. He likes the slow conditions in Bastad wining here back in 2007 and reaching other two semi-finals including last year. Riba struggled against Lindell in first round losing his serve twice and overall he benefit by Lindell’s errors on court. Riba didn’t showed a solid tennis and he spread a lot of balls outside, Ferrer is a consistent player and will force Riba to play an extra ball and to be more precise, he will need some time to adjust to the surface but after that he should cruise through the match.    

Filippo Volandri vs. Andreas Haider-Maurer  

Italian Filippo Volandri secured his spot in the second round of Skistar Swedish Open after upsetting Spain´s Tommy Robredo. The Spaniard had to retire due to a leg injury almost two hours into the match. Even that Robredo wasn’t at his best he putted a lot of fight on court breaking Volandri’s serve four times and in some moments had the upper hand. Haider-Maurer beat Kukushkin in first round, after a hard set with 7 breaks then the Austrian cruised in the second set keeping his serve much better. The Austria relies on his powerful serve but the surface is slow and rain is expected which will slow down even more, Volandri is a tough baseliner and he beat twice the Austrian this year, even that both wins were in Italy. The Austrian has the serve on his side while the consistency from the back of the court and on the ground are on Italian side.

Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo vs. Michael Ryderstedt

Michael Ryderstedt advanced surprisingly to the second round in Bastad when he beat Maximo Gonzalez in first round on his least favorite surface. “I had good preparations for the Davis Cup and I've never felt more motivated after the loss and feel that I want to improve things”, said the Swede. He relied on his powerful serve and then blasted forehands all over the court while in long points he was down. Ramirez Hidalgo won against Golubev but the Kazakhstan player is in poor form for a while and he missed a lot of opportunities, he had break points before losing his serve in decider and looked that he will take the win but he has a low morale. Interesting meeting, Ryderstedt will count on serve and then will try to finish the point quickly while the Spaniard will try to keep the ball on court and force long rallies, the Swede might surprise the Spaniard with his strategy.

Guillermo Olaso vs. Nicolas Almagro

The Spaniard Nicolas Almagro will start to defend his title in Bastad against his compatriot Guillermo Olaso. Almagro isn’t without practice on court as he played in Copa Del Rey held at the Real Club Recreativo de Tenis losing in the final to Montanes after he beat Andujar. Olaso qualified here and even that the surface is on slow side he looked solid behind the serve, his best weapon, wining a lot of free points. Olaso is a powerful baseliner who goes for his shots and a lot of short points will be seen, Almagro has good retrieving skills and resist well from the back of the court.