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  • Hamburg Preview: Second Round, Third Quarter

    5/13/08 9:54 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Ignacio Chela and James Blake vs. Janko Tipsarevic will steal the headlines in the third quarter of the Hamburg draw on Wednesday. Two other duels, however, should be wildly entertaining, especially on clay.

    Albert Montanes vs. Jose Acasuso

    While this is an all-unseeded matchup, it should be able to produce outstanding clay-court tennis. Then again, there is no way this second-round pairing could have featured any seeds, as this portion of the draw lost Tomas Berdych when Andy Roddick withdrew, and then Nicolas Almagro pulled out after taking Berdych's spot. As a result, Acasuso faced lucky loser Kristof Vliegen, who retired down 2-5 in the first set. Montanes, meanwhile, erased unseeded clay-court novice Mardy Fish 6-1, 6-3 in his opening match.

    Acasuso, ranked 45th in the world, has always been a force on clay and it has been no different in 2008. The Argentine reached the quarterfinals in Vina Del Mar, the final in Buenos Aires, and the semifinals in Acapulco. Montanes, No. 78 in the rankings, is nothing if not a clay-court specialist. The Spaniard's best result of the year came two weeks ago in Barcelona, where he took out Marcel Granollers and Ivo Karlovic en route to the quarterfinals.

    Acasuso is 4-0 against Montanes and has won all four matches in straight sets. Three of those victories came on clay. Montanes has improved his game since those meetings took place, but given that head-to-head history, you have to like Acasuso's chances in this one.

    (13) Tommy Robredo vs. Ivo Karlovic

    Not only should this match feature high-quality tennis, as Robredo-Karlovic could easily be a third-round or even quarterfinal showdown as opposed to second round, but the contrast in styles should make it extremely interesting. The 6'10'' Karlovic will try to impose his power game, while Robredo will play defense and attempt to make his opponent hit too many balls.

    Robredo came back from a set down to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the first round to continue his stellar clay-court campaign. This season on the dirt he has reached the semifinals in Valencia, posted wins over Stanislas Wawrinka and Robin Soderling in Monte-Carlo, and made it to the quarterfinals in both Barcelona and Rome. Karlovic survived two tiebreakers in his opening-round match with Mischa Zverev, winning 7-6(4), 7-6(3). That victory improves Karlovic's clay-court record to a pedestrian 4-4 this season.

    Karlovic, of course, must put his booming first serves in the court in order to have a chance in this contest, as Robredo will have a huge advantage from the back of the court. If the Spaniard can block balls back deep in the court and keep Karlovic at the baseline, he should be able to prevail. Look for Robredo to outlast Karlovic in three tough sets.

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