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  • Hamburg Preview: First Round, Third Quarter

    5/12/08 9:00 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - An already soft section of the Masters Series Hamburg draw got even easier when Nicolas Almagro pulled out with a wrist injury. If Novak Djokovic is tired after his win in Rome, the door could be open for either Janko Tipsarevic or Jose Acasuso.

    Janko Tipsarevic vs. Andreas Beck

    Beck is in this tournament for one reason and one reason only: he's from Germany and therefore got a wild card. Don't count him out, however, just because he is ranked way down at No. 137 in the world (his career high). Beck won a Challenger event on clay in Dresden last week and also captured a Challenger title in Sarajevo earlier in the year. An ATP Masters Series, of course, is a much different story and Tipsarevic will present all kinds of new problems for Beck. The Serb took Roger Federer to 10-8 in the fifth set at the Australian Open, reached the quarterfinals in Zagreb and at the Masters Series Miami, and won two matches on clay in Monte-Carlo. Last week in Rome he fell to Fernando Gonzalez in the opening round, but the match went to a third-set tiebreaker. These two have squared off once before in a Challenger tournament in Heilbronn on carpet back in 2006 and Tipsarevic prevailed in straight sets. The 33rd-ranked player in the world is on a different level than players Beck has been competing against recently, so he should be able to prevail. But Beck, urged on by the German crowd, will make it close.

    The winner will play seventh-seeded James Blake, who received an opening bye, in the second round.

    Jose Acasuso vs. Nicolas Almagro

    First Acasuso was supposed to play 9th-seeded Tomas Berdych, but Berdych moved into Andy Roddick's spot when the American withdrew. Then Acasuso was set to play Nicolas Almagro, who was bumped into a 17th-seeded slot when Roddick departed and Berdych moved. Now Almagro is out with the wrist injury he sustained last week in Rome, so barring another turn of events, Acususo will meet Kristof Vliegen. While Vliegen is no slouch on clay, Acasuso is far more accomplished on the dirt and he is also enjoying a much better 2008 campaign than his opponent. All you need to know about Vliegen's recent form is that he lost 6-1, 6-2 in Monte-Carlo to Richard Gasquet, who is mired in a terrible slump. This is the first-ever head-to-head meeting between Acasuso and Vliegen. The Argentine will pound away all day long from the baseline and he should be able to take it in straight sets.

    The winner will move on to face Albert Montanes in round two. Montanes, a Spaniard ranked 78th in the world, crushed Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-3 on Monday.

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