Ricky Dimon

• Approach shots: The show must go on after U.S. Open

  2008-09-09 08:51:30
  

  “Approach Shots” is Ricky’s weekly look at what’s ahead (or “approaching”) on the ATP Tour. Every Sunday he’ll preview all the tournaments scheduled for the upcoming week.
  
  The casual tennis fan generally considers the U.S. Open to be the end of every tennis season. The real tennis fan knows better. It’s true that with the U.S. Open’s conclusion there is no huge tournament until the Masters Series Madrid on October 12, but as a whole the ATP Tour stops for nothing. In fact the BCR Open Romania is already underway. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic are naturally taking well-deserved rests, but some second-tier names are in Romania either looking for rankings points or fine-tuning their clay-court games for upcoming Davis Cup ties.

   

  BCR Open Romania

  Where: Bucharest, Romania
  Surface: Clay
  Prize Money: 370,000 Euros
  Top Seed: Richard Gasquet
  Defending Champion: Gilles Simon
  
  Draw Analysis: With no dominant force in the field, the BCR Romania Open is wide open. The title is there for the taking and a host of contenders have a chance to step up and rise to the occasion. Defending champion and No. 2 seed Gilles Simon is in a bottom half of the draw that appears to be far friendlier than the top. His first-round match against Evgeny Korolev, however, could be his most difficult en route to the final. Should he get past Korolev, who upset Robin Soderling in the first round of the U.S. Open, Simon would meet clay-court specialist Albert Montanes in round two. Simon’s nearest seed, No. 7 Marcel Granollers, is already out of the tournament at the hands of Potito Starace.
  
  Fourth-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu and No. 8 seed Jose Acasuso will be among those fighting for the other semifinal spot in the bottom section. Romanian hope Victor Hanescu, last year’s runner-up, could play Acasuso in the second round during his quest to make another surprise appearance in the title match.
  
  The top half of the draw is loaded and it certainly did not do No. 1 seed Richard Gasquet any favors. Gasquet has Oscar Hernandez in round one; he should ease through that even though the Spanish veteran enjoys clay immensely. The Frenchman, however, could meet talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis—seeded for the first time in an ATP event at No. 5—in the quarterfinals. Clay-court guru Nicolas Almagro and Carlos Moya appear to be on a collision course for the quarterfinals in the second part of the top half. Almagro, though, first must navigate his way through what might be the most intriguing opening-round showdown. The third-seeded Spaniard is going up against qualifier Somdev Devvarman on Tuesday. Devvarman, out of the University of Virginia by way of India, is the two-time reigning NCAA singles champion and he won his first four events (Challengers and Futures tournaments) following college. He also reached the quarterfinals of the Legg Mason Classic last month.
  
  While a handful of players in the top half have the talent to go all the way, Simon could be sitting pretty for a repeat. He was on fire earlier this summer (especially in Indianapolis and Toronto) and he might be able to sit back and watch people beat each other up elsewhere in the draw as he eases through.
  
  First-Round Upset Alert: Starace already took out Granollers on Monday; an upset according to seeding, but no real surprise. Almost every seed faces a difficult test in the opener, but none appear likely to actually happen. Simon should scrape by Korolev, and Gasquet and Moya should survive clay-court lovers Hernandez and Alberto Martin, respectively. Gulbis has lost to Teimuraz Gabashvili in all three of their previous encounters, but the 20-year-old is a much-improved player now. Devvarman has more upset potential than anyone in Romania, but unfortunately for him, Almagro is the most accomplished clay-courter in this tournament.
  
  Momentum Builders (Players looking to continue recent good form): Somdev Devvarman, Gilles Simon
  
  Slump Busters (Players hoping to resurrect their games): Filippo Volandri. Potito Starace
  
  Semifinal Predictions: Ernests Gulbis over Nicolas Almagro and Gilles Simon over Paul-Henri Mathieu.
  
  Final Prediction: Gulbis over Simon.
  
  COMMENTS AND YOUR OWN PREDICTIONS ARE APPRECIATED!

Tell a friend »

Comments

Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.

Username:

Password:

Ricky Dimon

Archive

Poll

Articles - Latest commented

• 
  7
  Federer beats Blake at Showdown of Champions
  

  james007, Nov 20, 2008 8:03 AM

• 
  12
  UK bookies say surging Murray on track for Grand Slam title
  

  janhavi, Nov 20, 2008 4:04 AM

• 
  1
  Davis Cup preview: Spain vs. Argentina
  

  Avalaine, Nov 20, 2008 12:10 AM

• 
  2
  Murray hungry for more success after 2008 breakthrough
  

  arailic, Nov 19, 2008 7:29 PM

• 
  5
  The toast of the town in Paris, pre-Nadal
  

  elle, Nov 19, 2008 7:21 PM

Blog - Latest commented

• 
  22
  Top ten "what were they thinking" moments in 2008 Part II
  

  jean, Nov 20, 2008 7:47 AM

• 
  16
  Top ten "what were they thinking" moments in 2008 Part I
  

  tennisfan2, Nov 12, 2008 4:24 AM

• 
  13
  Federer's finest 5
  

  elle, Nov 10, 2008 2:11 AM

Tell a friend

Other tennis links

• www.tennis.com
• www.tennisnews.com
• www.sonyericssonwtatour.com
• www.itftennis.com
• More links...