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  • Poertschach Day 2 Preview

    5/19/08 10:29 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - With Monday's night session in Poertschach rained out, Day 2 promises to yield a blockbuster schedule. In addition to the Ancic-Ginepri match spilling over, No. 2 seed Juan Monaco, No. 3 Mardy Fish, and No. 4 Ivan Ljubicic will all be in action.

    Carlos Berlocq vs. (2) Juan Monaco

    Monaco is the defending champion in Poertschach and he'll have to be ready to start his title defense right away, because he is facing a fairly dangerous dirt-baller in fellow Argentine Carlos Berlocq. The 83rd-ranked Berlocq has not found much success at the ATP level this season, but he managed to make the quarterfinals in Vina Del Mar and just last week he finished runner-up at a Challenger event in Zagreb. Monaco isn't on fire right now like he should be on clay, but all those Masters Series events will have him more than ready for the likes of players like Berlocq. He should be able to take this in straight sets, but it won't be a breeze.

    (4) Mardy Fish vs. Igor Kunitsyn

    Kunitsyn is ranked outside the top 100 and he hasn't done much on the ATP Tour this season, but he should be feeling good on clay having recently reached the final of clay-court Challenger event in Bordeaux. Fish enjoyed an incredible run to the Indian Wells title match, but he has done very little since and has looked lost on the dirt. The American got crushed by Andy Roddick in Rome and got destroyed by Albert Montanes in Hamburg. Kunitsyn would be no match for Fish on a fast surface, but on clay he should be able to handle Fish's serve and pick on the American's forehand from the back of the court.

    Sergio Roitman vs. (8) Robin Haase

    Haase is tall and lanky (6'3'', 158 pounds) and owns a big, powerful game. Somewhat surprisingly, the 21-year-old has winning record on clay (6-5 in ATP matches) and that's a good thing since he is going up a clay-court specialist in Sergio Roitman. The Argentine made it to the quarterfinals in Houston but other than that it's been all first or second-round exits in ATP level tournaments this season for Roitman. All signs point to another early departure here, as Haase should be comfortable on the slow stuff having posted recent wins over Marat Safin in Valencia and Max Mirnyi in Barcelona. As long as Haase serves well he should be able to take care of business in straight sets.

    In other matches, third-seeded Ivan Ljubicic shouldn't have much trouble with Jan Hajek and John Isner has the edge over little-known Simone Vagnozzi thanks to his huge serve.

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