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6/10/08 5:49 AM | Ricky Dimon
The top four seeds in Warsaw, Poland all take the court on Tuesday. Of the four, only Nikolay Davydenko and Gilles Simon appear to have even mildly difficult first-round matchups.
(1) Nikolay Davydenko vs. Pablo Cuevas
Cuevas stormed out of relative obscurity to reach the semifnals in Vina del Mar on clay earlier this year, but he has done almost nothing--at least in singles--since. The Uruguayan, however, just won the French Open doubles title with partner Luis Horna, so he has to be feeling pretty good about himself at the moment. Of course his singles showing was far worse as Cuevas flamed out to Fernando Gonzalez in the first round and put up very little fight. It's hard to imagine anything much different against Davydenko in the Warsaw opening round. The Russian has been in fine form this season and he will be hungry to turn things around after one of his worst losses of 2008--a surprise third-round setback at the hands of Ivan Ljubicic in Paris. Count on Davydenko moving through in straight sets.
(4) Gilles Simon vs. Christophe Rochus
This should be a spirited, high-quality affair with both players playing solid tennis at the moment. Simon had a tough draw against Radek Stepanek in the first round of the French and crashed out in three sets, but he won a title in Casablanca the week before Paris. Rochus has been relegated to the Challenger circuit in 2008, but in his last three events--all on clay--the Belgian has one title, one runner-up finish, and one semifinal performance. In Warsaw he already had to go through qualifying, so Rochus has to be brimming with confidence right now. Still, Simon is a far cry from the Challenger level so Rochus will have to adjust and adjust quickly. Look for Simon to prevail, but don't be surprised if it goes three.
Ricardas Berankis vs. Wayne Odesnik
Odesnik is one of the few Americans who prefer clay to any other surface and his preference has shown on multiple occasions this season. First he reached the semifinals in Houston and most importantly he just made it to the third round of the French Open by taking out Guillermo Canas and Hyung-Taik Lee. His opponent in the first round of Warsaw is the little-known Berankis who is ranked all the way down at No. 586 in the world. Don't think for second, however, that Berankis is just some kind of pushover. Only 17 years old and hailing from Lithuania, Berankis is the reigning U.S. Open junior champion. He is a mere 5'8'' so chances are that clay is the surface that will be most beneficial to his movement and least detrimental to any power deficiencies he might have. Odesnik has to be the favorite here due to experience and current form, but Berankis should at least show some flashes of great play before bowing out.
The top two seeds behind Davydenko are also in action on Tuesday and both are playing against Polish qualifiers. Tommy Robredo meets Michal Przysiezny and Juan Monaco goes up against Jerzy Janowicz.
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