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2/19/08 11:59 AM | Ricky Dimon
On Day 2 at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, the day session on Centre Court features what appear to be two evenly-matched pairings. An all-unseeded duel between Tommy Robredo and Nicolas Mahut will get things started.
Tommy Robredo vs. Nicolas Mahut
This is the second career head-to-head meeting between Robredo and Mahut, as the two veterans recently squared off last season in Metz, France. Like that contest, Tuesday’s first-round clash in Rotterdam will take place on hard courts, which normally would favor Mahut over the Spaniard. To the disappointment of the French crowd in Metz, however, Robredo defeated the Frenchman 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 15 minutes.
Neither player is in particular good form coming into this event, but Robredo has endured an especially tough stretch recently. Although he is just 25-years-old, it is looking more and more like Robredo is no longer a serious contender on any surface other than clay. So far in 2008 he has played in thee ATP tournaments, all on hard courts. He lost in the first round of Doha 6-4, 6-4 to Agustin Calleri, fell to Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of Sydney, then barely got past unheralded Mischa Zverev in the first round of the Australian Open before getting destroyed by Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Mahut has always made bigger noise in doubles rather than singles, but he has managed to climb up to a current singles ranking of No. 40 in the world. It hasn’t been easy, however, in 2008. The Frenchman lost to Marin Cilic player profile" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted #000;">Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of Chennai, suffered a 6-3, 6-4 setback to Lleyton Hewitt in the first round of Sydney, then got crushed by Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open. Despite all that, Mahut was able to bounce back last week in Marseille, where he scored an impressive second-round win over Juan Carlos Ferrero in a third-set tiebreaker before putting up an admirable fight against Andy Murray in a 7-5, 7-6(5) losing effort.
The key to Tuesday’s match will be Mahut’s serve. Robredo is clearly not in good form right now and if Mahut puts in a high percentage of his first serves, he will not allow Robredo to find his long-lost rhythm. The Spaniard’s return, however, can be effective if he gets a lot of looks at Mahut’s second delivery.
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