ATP Umag – Tuesday Preview

Tommy Robredo vs. Ruben Ramirez 

Tommy Robredo hopes to kick start his comeback in Umag this week starting against Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo.

Robredo started the year very strongly, reaching the fourth round of the Aussie Open and winning the Santiago title but at the age of 29, his body is starting to break down more frequently and a combination of injuries have meant he's played very little tennis since the early spring.His return has not been too successful so far, an early exit at Wimbledon and a first round retirement in Bastad. However in Ramirez Hidalgo he has an opponent he's beaten in three of their 4 matches, winning the last one 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in Acapulco 2 years ago.

33 year old Ramirez Hidalgo is also some way past his peak and has fallen to a ranking of 132 and he's not been past the second round of any event on the tour this year.

Robredo is the fifth seed this week so just missing out on a first round bye and he has an excellent opportunity to make the quarters where either Juan Carlos Ferrero or Ivan Ljubicic could meet him. In his current form he's also unlikely to pick up too many points at the strong events in the States over the next month and there's just a couple more chances to cash in on these weaker tournaments until the Tour returns briefly to the European clay-court venues in mid-September.

Sergiy Stakhvosky vs. Olivier Rochus

Olivier Rochus is coming after another final in Newport, he didn’t hurried in Hamburg and played in Bundesliga where he impressed with his game in his straight sets win over Ramos.

The audience saw great rallies, tough exchanges between them but Rochus prevailed in the end, and the Belgian is in great form heading to his match with Stakhvosky.

The Ukrainian isn’t on his best on clay and the surface in Umag is slower, he has more sting on serve but Rochus compensate with good retrieving skills while on court all the Ukrainian will try Rochus will make better. Stakhvosky beat out form for Gonzalez and won hard against Pospisil while Rochus is coming with a great morale and form.

Rui Machado vs. Fabio Fognini

After French Open, Italian Fabio Fognini managed to lose to two left hander, Stebe and Melzer and even that he didn’t impressed too much he looked in good form but there is room for improvements.

Machado is coming after he won in Poznan and now is the best ranked Portuguese which might give him a solid confidence heading to this match. He beat in Poznan tough players as Gabashvili, Hajek or Janowicz and will be for the first time in Umag.

Fognini reached the semi-finals here a couple of years back and is favorite to advance further. A lot of rallies will be seen here and the more regular baseliner will have the upper hand but the surface tends to favor the solid baseliner who has a controlled aggression, Machado is coming with a high morale.

Mate Pavic vs. Filippo Volandri

Wining the Boys’ double title at Wimbledon alongside Morgan it was enough for the organizers to granted him a WC. He also reached the semi-finals in singles but despite that has good record on faster grounds he likes to play on clay too.

The Croat has a solid serve and resist well in long rallies, some instinct shots at the net but he is too impatient on court and tries too much especially when he meets a top player.

Volandri is coming after he won the title in Orbetello, he has the experience on his side and if he will keep the ball in play he will have the upper hand from the back of the court. The Italian will miss this one only if he will be too tired from last week or other things will interfere.

Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Maximo Gonzalez

Ferrero and Gonzalez will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers when they do battle in the first round of the Studena Croatia Open on Tuesday. Their only previous encounter came at this same event two years ago, with Ferrero taking a quarterfinal clash 7-5, 6-2. The 31-year-old Spaniard has to be favored once again even though he has endured an injury-plagued season. Ferrero has participated in just four tournaments, but he captured the Stuttgart title earlier this month.

Gonzalez missed much of 2010 due to an ACL injury, but he enjoyed some success at the Challenger level early this season and he registers at No. 97 in the world, 24 spots behind Ferrero. The veteran Argentine is in the midst of nine-match losing streak at both the Challenger and ATP levels dating back to the Monte-Carlo second round.

Dusan Lajovic vs. Andreas Seppi

Lajovic will be for the first time in Umag main draw, and second time on an ATP tournament main draw after Zagreb this year, and will open against Andreas Seppi. He had some luck as his last opponent withdrew and is well rested.

Lajovic is a relatively unknown player, as he plays mostly in Futures and near Serbia and mostly Italy, though he’s still a raw talent. He has a solid serve and is a tough baseliner who can resist well in long rallies while his opponent is coming in average form as he is yet to win a match after the Wimbledon.

The match stays on Italian racquet but the Italian isn’t a player that’s start aggressive and Lajovic can profit by that.    

Gianluca Naso vs. Mate Delic

Delic played the final of Boys French Open in Paris losing to Thiem and was granted a WC for Umag. It will be his first competitive match in ATP after some poor results in Futures. The Croat has a standing serve and a more then competitive ground game and can resist well in long rallies but also this will be a good opportunity for qualifier Naso to grab some points.

The Italian saw the opportunity and advanced in convincing manner with wins over Brkic, Setkic and Marcan in the main draw. The Italian should serve much better looking at his height but overall wins a lot of points behind the serve, solid baseliner as he relies on his forehand wing to make winners while his backhand is more defensive. Delic has more sting on backhand wing and if he will past through his emotions he can make a solid match.

Potito Starace vs. Thiemo De Bakker

After he played in Obetello Challenger and reached the quarter-finals, the Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker will compete in an ATP tournament, in Umag.

He is on his way back and things were improvements but so far he doesn’t resist back to back tough matches but he is dangerous in the first round as he is well rested. Also the Italian lost in Bundesliga to Garcia-Lopez, who has a similar game with De Bakker, where Starace was competitive only partial, in the second set. The Italian lost recently to other powerful hitters, he lost to Soderling in Bastad and to Rosol in Hamburg.

The Dutchman has a powerful serve and hit with a lot of power, he advance to the net to finish the points quickly but remain solid in long rallies too. Starace’s form is average, like De Bakker only partial can play a high level of tennis, looks like a match with some ups and downs.

Blaz Kavcic vs. Carlos Berlocq

After he lost a tight match to Monaco, the Argentine Carlos Berlocq lost another tight match to Youzhny in Hamburg. He is in good form but still something misses in his game to win tight matches.

He will meet Kavcic who is coming after a quarter-final in Bastad but with some luck. The Slovenian plays an aggressive player, he is a fast baseliner who goes for his shots but also remains solid in long rallies, clean shots on both wings.

Kavcic tends to struggle against regular baseliner who has a solid defense, he lost to Lorenzi, Fognini, Roger-Vasselin, Patience, Starace just to name a few, he tends to go too much on serve and his shots trying to hit through their defense. The surface is on slow side and Berlocq has the experience on his side and also looks in better form.

Simone Vagnozzi vs. Robin Haase

Simone Vagnozzi advanced with wins over Ademovic, Urbanija and Fabbiano to enter in the main draw in Studena Croatia Open Umag. Regular wins for the Italian who saw the opportunity to enter in the main draw. He played consistently on the surface recently but he will have a much difficult task against Haase.

The Italian is a good baseliner but also make a step on court to be more aggressive, quick around the court, usually relies on opponent’s mistakes as he doesn’t like to be decisive but when he is confident on his game he goes for his shots.

Haase is coming after Bundesliga where he impressed with his form beating Klizan, then he played in doubles too. He lost to Berlocq in Hamburg but was his first match after fast surfaces.

The Dutchman has the serve on his side and if he will serve big and will finish the points quickly he will have th upper hand, overall Vagnozzi hasn’t a real weapon to trouble Haase.