16-06-2008, 08:52
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Analogue Smoker
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Join Date: May 2005
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Ordina & Slazenger Opens + Eastbourne
Just reading this from Bettinzone
Quote:
Wimbledon is so close now the strawberries and cream are probably on order and the Pimms is chilling nicely somewhere down SW19 way.
And while tournament favourites Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal spend this week fine tuning their game for the big one, the ATP action continues with events in England and the Netherlands.
Over in Holland, the Ordina Open takes place in 's-Hertogenbosch and Mario Ancic is the player the layers are looking to keep onside.
'Super Mario' is probably best known for being the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon.
That was way back in 2002 when the Croat posted a rather emphatic 6-3 7-6 (7/2) 6-3 win. Since that day though Federer has won 58 straight games on grass and established himself as the best player in the word.
Ancic meanwhile has been a bit hit and miss. The 6'5 right-hander has suffered more than most with injury problems in recent years, especially last season when he was out from February until August. As a result his ATP Ranking position is now as low as 44 but despite this he is still a match for anyone on his day.
His record on grass is none too shabby either and he has won the Ordina Open twice in the past three years. He missed the event last year so technically he will be looking to make it a hat-trick of titles here and given he has a 13-2 lifetime record in 's-Hertogenbosch it's my guess that he'll take some stopping.
Fellow Croat Ivan Ljubicic won the event last year but looking at his record this season it's clear to me that the 'Lube-Mesiter' is a player on the slide this days and current 6/1 quotes about him retaining his title look a trifle skinny.
Ancic's main threat I believe will come from Richard Gasquet.
The Frenchman was a child prodigy (he appeared on the cover of a French tennis magazine at the grand old age of nine) of whom great things were expected.
He has so far failed to live up entirely to the hype that accompanied his entrance to the main tour as a 15-year-old but having won five ATP titles and established himself as a top 10 player he isn't doing too badly for a 21-year-old (he turns 22 this week).
He has enjoyed a wretched time of it so far this season with injury and personal problems blighting his progress (he has failed to go beyond the last 16 of any tournament so far in 2008 and recently parted company with his coach).
However he remains a prodigious talent and owner of arguably the best backhand in men's tennis.
Both he and Ancic should meet at the business end of proceedings in Holland and with the pair currently tied at 1-1 in the head-to-head stakes it will be difficult to separate them.
I just feel however that Ancic is in a better place mentally right now and for this reason he gets our vote to make it three Ordina Open wins from three.
Elsewhere this week there is also action from Nottingham with several top names turning out for the Slazenger Open.
Radek Stepanek is the top seed in the land of Robin Hood but the Czech's form on grass has been indifferent in recent years and he gets a tough one to start in the shape of 6'9 American powerhouse John Isner.
Isner won't win Wimbledon this year but his demonic serve will cause all but the best problems on grass and in a best-of-three set sprint Stepanek will have to be on his mettle early on.
Paul-Henri Mathieu is also among the top seeds but the Frenchman does his best work on clay and given his penchant for choking when it matters I wouldn't touch him with stolen Euros at the current odds available.
The same goes for Spaniard Fenando Verdasco and Andreas Seppi.
Big Croat Ivo Karlovic will have his backers and the best sever on tour is always dangerous on this type of terrain.
It took and in-form Nadal three tie-breaks to shift him at Queen's recently and he will be fully motivated here having won the event last year.
However the bookies have priced him up at a rather stingy 10/3 to defend his title and given the fact his game is almost totally reliant on his serve then I wouldn't be throwing the mortgage money on him.
A better alternative in my eyes is Dmitry Tursunov.
The blond Russian is always dangerous and his powerful serve and big groundies mean he will be tough to beat on quick terrain.
He has already won an ATP title this season (Sydney) and a few encouraging wins on clay recently (a surface he has gone on record as stating that he hates) proves that he is playing well.
He has a decent draw (opposite side to Karlovic, Stepanek and Gael Monfils) and at 12/1 the Moscow marvel should give us a decent run for our money.
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Ordina & Slazenger Opens + Eastbourne
