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  • Bastad First Round: Carlos Moya vs. Potito Starace

    7/8/08 1:07 AM | Ricky Dimon
    - The clay-court masters have a brief return to glory in between the grass-court and hard-court seasons, and that should suit Carlos Moya and Potito Starace just fine. Their match headlines a strong Tuesday lineup in Bastad.

    It will be the fourth career meeting between Carlos Moya and Potito Starace when the two men do battle in the opening round at the Catella Swedish Open in Bastad on Tuesday. All three previous encounters also came on clay and Starace holds a 2-1 edge over Moya. Starace won twice back in 2005, but Moya responded with straight-set win in Buenos Aires last year.

    Neither player has been in particularly stellar form this season, but Moya has done enough to keep his ranking up at No. 25 in the world. That earned him the fifth seed in Bastad, where the Spaniard took the title in 2002 and reached the semifinals last year. Moya suffered a tough first-round loss at Roland Garros, but he finished runner-up to Nicolas Almagro on the clay of Costa Do Sauipe and he made it to the quarterfinals at the Masters Series Hamburg.

    Starace ventured into the top 30 briefly in 2007, but he has failed to recapture that form during his 2008 campaign, leaving him at 58th in the world. The Italian enjoyed quarterfinal performances early in the season on the dirt of Buenos Aires and Acapulco, but he has struggled ever since. This is Starace's first career appearance in Bastad.

    Starace has the age advantage over Moya (26 to 31), but that's just about where his advantages end. Moya is playing better tennis this season and he should feel much more comfortable than his opponent in Bastad due to past successes there. It won't be a complete rout, but Moya in straight sets is the pick.

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